








iW^MCWr! 


‘bMmr.x’*.:-: 


.. ■3* , ’* r 






































LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
_» 

©fyrrp.- -^ T - C44& . 

Shelf 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




































I 

\ 

] 

/ 

j 

/ 






THE SAILOR BOYS DREAM. 




_- . 








































































































































































































































































Jl l lOVS^(VENTURES 

By Sea and Land 


BV 


Capt. C.W.Hall. 

AUTHOR OF 

"Adrift in the Ice Fields 

" Th«P r,r<=At 


The GrecM Bon&nzd 
Etc. 


With Illustrations 


Boston. 

Chas .E. Brown & Co 
























> 




\ 


Copyright, 1892, 

By Charles E. Brown & Co 












S. J. PARKHILL & CO., PRINTERS 
BOSTON 



















PREFACE. 


So many books have been written upon the usual routes of Euro¬ 
pean and Asiatic travel that it is difficult now to excite the interest 
of young readers without going out of the beaten track. The adven¬ 
tures related in this volume are novel and picturesque, and they follow 
a comparatively new course. 

The hero, Rob Randall, ships on board the “ Racer,” a Cape Ann 
schooner, bound to the coast of Greenland for halibut. In the course 
of the long voyage he rests in the island-studded harbors, and clears 
the rock-bound coasts of Nova Scotia, and then sails through the beau¬ 
tiful Straits of Canso, past the Magdalen Islands and the wonderful 
Bird Rock, to Labrador. Being detained there by a storm, he and his 
companions prove the rude hospitality and enjoy the wild sports of the 
•‘planters.” They also visit the ruins of ancient French trading-posts 
and of Danish settlements ; but their northward voyage is interrupted, 
and the “ Racer ” is lost. Then Rob Randall, with a single companion, 
starts on his wanderings, which are to extend around the world. 

He visits Iceland, and beholds its grand and desolate scenery, its 
famous geysers, and its simple inhabitants. He touches the Shetland 
and Faroe islands, and has some break-neck adventures in search of 
the bird colonies on their terrible cliffs. He passes through Scotland, 
and enjoys its romantic scenery, the associations of its history and 
legends, and the pleasure of ranging its forests and moors. Through 
England he goes at Christmas time, and has his share in the festivities. 

He comes next into Brittany, follows the winding Loire, sees the 
splendors of Paris, crosses to the castellated Rhine, and follows its course 
through the gardens of Holland, reclaimed from the bed of ocean. 
At length he and his companion reach St. Petersburg, where they 


v 



VI 


PREFACE. 


make some strange acquaintances, among them a Russian general and 
a Polish spy. 

Invited by the general, they visit his country-seat, having a sharp 
encounter with a pack of wolves on the way. Afterwards, endeavoring 
to escape the unpleasant attentions of the spy, they cross Siberia, and, 
having reached the eastern shore, sail for Alaska. On their way 
through Asia they have many strange experiences of Siberian, Tartar, 
Chinese, and Indian life. From Alaska they sail to San Francisco, 
and from thence reach home overland. 

In this long journey, devious and broken by various accidents, the 
reader is introduced to new and striking scenery, and to peoples little 
known and seldom described in modern literature. 

The book has nearly two hundred illustrations, which place the 
various scenes and incidents vividly before the youthful reader. The 
author has not aimed to produce sensational effects, but rather to fur¬ 
nish true pictures of actual things, and so supply knowledge, as well 
as to minister to the pleasures of the imagination. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 


Wreck Cove 


CHAPTER II. 


Eastward, Ho !. 


CHAPTER III. 

Gunnison’s Story; the Chase of the “Young Teazer” . 

CHAPTER IV. 

Nova Scotia ; Lobster-canning ; Sambro ; Canseau . 


CHAPTER V. 

The Magdalens; Bird Rock; Fresh Eggs; Epicurean Deli¬ 
cacies ; Labrador ; Trapping Sables ; Shooting a Lynx . 


CHAPTER VI. 

A Newfoundlander’s Experiences ; the Bgeothics, or Red 
Indians ; War to the Knife ; the Deer Fences of the 
Exploits River ; Deserted Trading-Posts ; through the 
Straits of Belle Isle ; Whalers in the Ice 

CHAPTER VII. 

Greenland ; Danes, Esquimaux, and Half-Breeds ; Melville 
Sound; a Storm amid the Ice; left on the Floes; the 
“Racer” disappears. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Alone on the Ice; the Last Act of Friendship; Food, Fire, 
and Defence ; the Ghosts ; a Sad Reunion ; Making the 
Land ; Native Hospitality ; Good-bye to Greenland 

vii 


PAGE 

I 

9 

26 

33 

43 

65 

84 

98 






VI11 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER IX. 

Clear of the Ice ; a Moonlight Night and a Misty Morning ; 

Man Overboard; at the Pumps; in Iceland . . . 115 

CHAPTER X. 

Reykjavik; an Old Friend and a Drunken Servant; off for 
the Geysers ; Fish Fodder ; the Rock of Laws ; Encamped 
at the Geysers ; the Strokir ; the Great Geyser ; Return 
to Reykjavik; Sail for Scotland.127 

CHAPTER XI. 

Southward ; Harvest Days ; the Gypsy Camp ; a Strange 
Race ; a Royal Palace ; Queen Philippa ; King Arthur and 
King Alfred ; Athelney and Avalon ; Merry Christmas ; 
Punt-Shooting; a Yankee Rig.163 

CHAPTER XII. 

To Russia via France, Belgium, and Prussia; Eddystone 
Light; Concarneau; Sardine Fishery; the Smugglers* 

Cliff ; Paris ; Massacre of St. Bartholomew ; Madame de 
Sombreuil ; Church of St. Gomer ; Brussels ; the Rhine ; 
Dikes and Ditches ; St. Petersburg.222 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Moscow to Nickolievetsk ; Siberia ; China ; the “Pioneer” and 

her Captain ; Home again ; Christmas Eve at Stonehaven . 269 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


- PAGB 

The Sailor Boy’s Dream.( Frontispiece .) 

The Wrecked Schooner .i 

Rob’s Prize. 3 

The School-Children of Stonehaven.4 

The Fisherm/n’s Home. 5 

Robert Randall ..6 

May Irving.7 

The Inner Harbor.9 

Waiting for a Breeze.10 

The Wreck of the Hesperus.13 

The Mary Odell.15 

Killing Seals.17 

The Top of a Big Iceberg.18 

The Chase of the “Young Teazer **.28 

Blowing up the “Young Teazer”.31 

Scene in Mahone Bay.34 

Wrecked on the Nova Scotian Coast (full page).35 

Cape Sambro . 37 

A Mountain Stream.38 

Spearing the Moose.40 

On the Lookout.. . 41 

Breeding-Grounds of the Wild Geese ..49 

Evangeline.50 

A Wreck. 52 

Rob’s Mishap . . . •.54 

An Esquimau Dog.55 

A Labrador Village.56 

Saved only to Perish (full page).59 

Beavers Building a Dam .61 

American “ Fisher ” (Marten).63 

The Lynx . 64 

Ambushed by Indians. 67 

Midnight in Labrador (full page).69 

English Fort and Blockhouse, 1765.73 

Drifting to Death (full page).77 

Wrecked in the Icefield.79 

The Visiting Esquimaux.80 

Polar Bear and Cubs.81 

ix 








































X ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

The “Racer” off the Coast of Greenland.85 

Esquimau Kayak. 86 

Esquimau Dog-Sledge. 87 

Hunting the Narwhal. 88 

Getting Under Weigh. 89 

Taking an Observation. 92 

The “Racer” disappears (full page).97 

Ghosts.100 

Alone on the Drifting Berg .... ...... 102 

The Glaciers . 105 

A Dead Narwhal . 107 

Polar Bear and Eider Ducks. 109 

A Bear Hunt .111 

The Dead Captain.113 

Clear of the Ice (full page).117 

Lost Overboard. 121 

On the Coast of Iceland.125 

A Public Road in Iceland.135 

The Almannajau.137 

An Icelandic Country House. Bjarg.143 

Kitchen of an Iceland House.145 

Reindeer.147 

A True Meerschaum. 150 

Under the Cliffs (full page).153 

The Great Geyser.155 

Cave of Sturtshellior.158 

The Frenchman’s Prize (full page).161 

Fast Castle, East Lothian.164 

Carlisle Wall. Execution of Macivor.165 

The Gypsies’ Camp.166 

The Lifeboat. New Castle on Tyne (full page).169 

Byeway in Yorkshire.170 

Trying for a Supper.171 

Sherwood Forest and Swineherd.176 

A Saxon Banquet-Hall.177 

Robin Hood.178 

In the Mere. 179 

A Moonlit Mere. 181 

Decoy Shooting. 183 

Gunning-Float.187 

Canute rebuking his Courtiers (full page).189 

Dike Bank. 190 

The Fen Lands.191 

Sir Walter Raleigh.192 

Escape of Lord Nithsdale from the Tower, 1716 (full page) . . . 193 

Richard Cceur de Leon .195 

Westminster Abbey (full page).197 

Windsor Castle at Evening (full page).199 

On the Wing.203 

Alfred in the Danish Camp (full page).207 

Ancient Celtic Hunters.208 

Christmas Bells (full page).217 




















































ILLUSTRATIONS 


xi 

PAGB 

Pilaster.222 

Queen Elizabeth knighting Drake .223 

Eddystone Lighthouse.224 

Capture of De Ruyter’s Vessel by Admiral Blake.225 

Sardine Fishery. Casting the Nets (full page).227 

A Breton Wedding in High Life.229 

The Wrecker (full page).231 

House of Sir Francis Walsingham, English Ambassador, on the Eve 

of St. Bartholomew (full page).235 

Mdlle. de Sombreuil and the Mob (full page).237 

Convent and Castle of Rheinfels (full page).239 

A Dutch Landscape . 240 

General Gourof. .241 

Russian Servants.243 

General Gourof and the Children ..244 

A Russian Telega. 245 

A Russian News-Bearer. 246 

Captain Demetrius Lewinski.248 

Leaving St. Petersburg.250 

A Public Road in Russia. 251 

Interior of a Russian Peasant’s Home 253 

“ Dog of a Serf ! ” . 254 

Russian Wolf. 255 

Arrival of the General at his Estate ........ 258 

Nephews and Nieces.259 

A Dramatic Parting.260 

Family Discipline.260 

The Plotters.261 

“ He is a Spy!”.262 

Flight of Korpanoff ..263 

Vassili and Korpanoff.264 

State Prisoner No. 29 .265 

A Friendly Stroll. 266 

General Gourof and the Spy.267 

Demiane and Paul.. 

To Siberia.271 

At the Ball. 2 7& 

Arrest of the Pole.. 

At the Crest of the Urals . 281 

Chinese Mandarin. 2 &9 

Chinese School. . 

Chinese Tree-God. 291 

The Polish Fugitive. . 

Tungusi Dog-Sledge on the Amoor in Winter., * *293 

Bidarra. . 

Trading-Post, Norton Sound (full page). 2 99 

Alaska Indians (full page).. 

Alj <;kan House.. 

Tusk. Traders and Shore /ndians (full page).303 

Indian "-rave .... .. 

Lucy Forvescue. 3°7 
















































* 




V,'- 








DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


A BOY’S ADVENTURES BY LAND AND SEA. 


CHAPTER I. 

WRECK COVE. 

I T was a very still and beautiful night even for Stonehaven, 
a village unexcelled for peaceful and serene quiet among 
the many hamlets along the New England coast, where 
women, children, and old men past labor with seine and oar, 
await, through the long summer, the stormy fall, ay, and 
even the terrible winter, the return of some husband, father, or 
son from their adventurous voyaging in many and distant 
waters. 

Robert Randall and May Irving stood alone on the sandy 
beach, a mere strip of safe foothold and wreck-strewn gravel 
between two projecting crags of the iron-bound coast, into 
which, as a safe landing- 
place, the shore fishermen 
came at night, as might be 
seen by the half score of gai¬ 
ly painted dories drawn up 
above the reach of the tide. the wrecked schooner. 

That it was not always thus safe, the battered, sea-whitened 
frame of a wrecked schooner bore witness; and among a 

i 

' 






2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


more superstitious race Wreck Cove would have had few 
visitors after nightfall, for of all the hardy crew who had last 
trod her decks at sea, none had escaped with life, but, yielding 
to fatigue, cold, and the resistless seas, had perished with their 
stranded vessel. 

But Rob and May were troubled with no foolish fancies of 
this kind, for the house of their foster-parents, Mr. and Mrs. 
Irving, stood just beyond the high bank, up which a narrow 
cart-way, weed-grown and little used, led from the landing. 
As children it had been their favorite playground in pleasant 
weather, and seldom had a morning passed in their whole 
lives that they had not at least gone to the edge of the bank to 
note the ever-changing aspect of sea and sky, and cast a 
curious eye along the curving windrow of wreckage and sea¬ 
weed left by the 
last tide. 

From the trib¬ 
ute thus daily 
offered they had 
drawn many 
things of use, 
value, and inter¬ 
est— barrels of pitch, tar, and even pork, the jettison of de¬ 
layed fruiterers, and no small share of the firewood which in 
winter and summer fed the well-worn cook-stove in the 
roomy kitchen at home. 

Then Rob had found the tiny hull of a partially finished 
toy schooner which father Irving had finished and rigged, that 
the children might sail it in the clear, shallow pools left by the 
retreating tide, under whose crystalline waters sea-anemones 
and delicate, many-hued sea-weeds displayed their beauteous 
wonders, and captive lobsters and sea-fish hid themselves 
among the detached rocks in vain. 











WRECK COVE 


3 

There May had gathered her treasures of pressed and dried 
6ea-moss, mottled and iridescent shells, and curious woods, 
leaves, and cones, messengers from tropical islets and far-off 
lands, and both had collected a precious hoard of corks, 



rob’s prize. 


bottles, rags, copper bolts, iron spikes, and other treasure- 
trove, for which the travelling collector of junk and waste 
paid in high-priced wares and scanty pittances of small silver. 
Although, in storm and calm, both had joined the sturdy 











4 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


fisher boys and girls around in their daily pilgrimages to the 
district school, a mile or mor^ away, and were fairly grounded 
in the rudiments of a solid English education, and insatiable 



THE SCHOOL-CHILDREN OF STONEHAVEN. 


readers of the current literature of the day, still the Cove had 
been their constant teacher, and the boy at least had drawn 
therefrom the great lessons of his short life. 

The changes of wind and tide, the signs of the varying 
heavens and drifting clouds, the lore of the skilful fisherman 
and the wisdom of the retired sea captains, who loved to build 
the home of their old age in such a spot, had found in him an _ 
apt scholar, and at fifteen years of age he had so profited by 
such teaching, that, in the estimation of the rough fishermen, 
he had little to learn from the oldest man on the beach. 

Few could tire him out in walking along the craggy and 
broken coast-line. A most fearless swimmer, he was as ready 
as a retriever to plunge into the surf after a dead bird, or 
a drifting hat or oar, while driving snow or blinding rain had 
but few terrors for one attempered to their rigor by constant 
habitude. 

It is not wonderful, therefore, that he longed for a wider 
experience, and more extended wandering over that broad 
ocean which had been the playmate of his youth, and, if rumor 
could be trusted, the grave of his father, also. He saw before 



WRECK COVE. 5 

him no prospect of aught but the drudgery endured by the 
dory fisherman, who by day pulled mile after mile to seaward 
to attend his trawls or lobster-pots, and returned at night to the 
labors of the curing-shed or 
boiling-house, retiring late 
at night and rising early to 
his unremitting toil; and 
had determined to seize the 
first opportunity of becom¬ 
ing a sailor “ of the long 
voyage.” 

He was an orphan boy, 
whose mother had been the 
young wife of the master of 
a bark sailing between Boston and Liverpool, and had died 
and was buried in mid-ocean on the return passage. The be¬ 
reaved husband had placed his son in the charge of his wife’s 
parents, and sailing for China, had reached Hong Kong in 
safety, and thence sent back remittances of money and mes¬ 
sages of love to his three-year-old boy; but since that day 
no man had sent or brought word of missing Captain Randall. 
It was one of Rob’s most precious day-dreams that somewhere 
in the great world,, among its many peoples, he might find and 
bring back to his aged protectors his erring father. 

May Irving was not of his blood. She was the only child 
of widowed Angus Mclvor, who with his companions had 
sailed for the winter fishery on George’s Banks, and, like too 
many other stout fishermen, had never been heard of more. 
Taken from the town poor-house, she had found a home with 
the old couple, and though merry, and something of the tom¬ 
boy at play, was loved and respected by all who knew her. 

And now they walked together, as we have said, on the 
lonely beach, in the sad soft moonlight, talking together in low 





6 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


v'V*Y f ‘“5^ 


tones, the boy’s voice sadly resolute, the girl’s broken by half 
stifled sobs. 

«But I must go, May,” said the boy. " The Stonehaven 
Bank has suspended, and the little money grandpa had there is 
probably lost, if what people say is true, and he ain’t able to 

work as he used to. I’ve 
got a chance to go with 
Captain Clark, in the Ra¬ 
cer. He’s going to Green¬ 
land for halibut, and has 
refused lots 
of men, but 
he says he 
will give me 
a chance for 
company’s 
sake.” 

" He will 
expect you 
to tell him^ 
stories all 
the time, if you go, Rob,” said 
May, with a pitiful little laugh. 
"You know he’d listen to you 
half a day at a time, when he 
was home last summer.” 

"Well, I’ll try to tell him all 
lean,” said Rob; "but it’s a 
good chance to try a short voyage across the ocean; and old 
Captain Snow said, the last time he was home, that if grandpa 
let me go one short voyage, and I wanted to try another, that I 
could go with him to Europe.” 

" What will your base-ball club and our croquet parties do 



ROBERT RANDALL. 










WRECK COVE. 


7 



without you, this summer? You know we don’t have many 
boys around, any way, and — ” 

” That’s just it,” said Rob, earnestly. " There ain’t another 
boy of my age but is at work for a living, either on sea or 
land, and I’m not going to be set down as the only lazy boy in 
Stonehaven. The base¬ 
ball club will have to 
choose a new catcher, 
and as for croquet, you’ll 
be able to more than 
make up for my absence.” 

" But — but what’s to 
become of me?” broke 
out poor May, with a bit¬ 
ter burst of tears. "We 
have been together ever 
since we sailed chip boats 
in the big washtub of the 
house, when we were too 
small to go to the shore 
alone. I’ve never cared 
much for other girls, and 
the other boys are not so 
kind and nice as you, and 
I shall be so lonesome if 
you go away that I shan’t 
know what to do.” 

M TT T . i , , MAY IRVING. 

" Have I a right to 

stay, May?” asked the boy, gravely. "You are needed to help 
grandma, who is getting feeble; but I am only another to clothe 
and feed, and I know that there is little enough to feed us 


now. 


"Well, Robbie, it seems hard, but as you say, we must 








8 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 


think of father and mother first; but you will come back to us 
again, won’t you?” 

" Come back? you little goose!” laughed Robbie, restored 
to something like his old spirits; "of course I’ll come back. 
You’ll see me on hand at Thanksgiving, at farthest. Come, 
the dew is falling; let us go in.” 

So, for the last time that spring the boy and girl ascended 
the steep road that led up the beach, and as they emerged 
upon the bluff, Rob turned and pointed down to the shore-line, 
where the long rollers, glittering in the moonlight, broke on 
the ragged edges. 

" It will be a long time before we look together upon the 
sea by moonlight again,” said he. 

" I shall never see it without praying for your safe return,” 
replied poor May. 





EASTWARD, Ho! 9 


CHAPTER II. 

EASTWARD, Ho! 

T HE " Racer ” was ready for sea when, two days later, Rob 
rode over to Gloucester with Skipper Clark, full of pride 
in his new schoon¬ 
er, "a nine-days’ 
wonder” even in 
a port which owns 
the finest and fast¬ 
est small craft in 
the world. 

"Thar’ she is!” 
the skipper cried, 
pointing to a long, 
low, sharp-bowed 
and elegantly- 
sparred schooner 
at anchor in the 
inner harbor; "and I reckon she won’t be long in running 
down to Upernavik. Thar’s a dozen of us, all told, and with 
you and ‘ Gentleman George ’ to spin yarns, we’ll have a jolly 
time as we go east’ard.” 

"Who’s ' Gentleman George’?” asked Rob, curiously, as 
they stopped at the outfitter’s store at the head of the wharf. 

"Hush! there he is now, coming down street with some 
of his traps. You must call him Mr. Cameron, but among 
ourselves we always speak of him as 'Gentleman George.’ 



THE INNER HARBOR. 







IO 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


He’s a nateralist, he is, an’ fust went with me on a trip to Que- 
reau Bank; paid a big price for his passage, and caught almost 
as big a jag of fish as I did into the bargain. The wust of him 
was the mess he made of the cabin with his speciments, as he 
called them, — all kinds of fish, an’ sea-weeds, an’ queer things 
that we got oflf’n our trawls in two or three hundred fathoms. 



WAITING FOR A BREEZE. 


He’s well off, they say, an’ b’longs to the great museum at 
Wash’n’ton.” 

"How are you, skipper?” called out the subject of the 
foregoing remarks, an athletic young gentleman clad in coarse 
woolens, and balancing a light rifle on the right shoulder, 
while carrying a gun-case in his left hand. " This is my last 
load, and all hands are on board and ready to sail as soon as 
you say, though I suppose we shall hardly start before the next 
ebb, with the wind still at east and so heavy a sea outside.” 





























EASTWARD, Ho! 


II 


w We’ll have the wind from the sou’west before sun-up, an* 
the sea will go down as fast as it rose. By breakfast-time I 
hope to be below the light, and headed for Cape Sable.” 

Going aboard an hour later, Rob was welcomed to his new 
quarters, and assigned a berth in the cabin, which he soon 
sought after a hearty supper in the crowded forecastle. At 
about four in the morning he heard the trampling of feet over¬ 
head and the clanking of the windlass, and hastening on deck, 
worked with a will at the heavy brakes, until the long fishing- 
anchor was started from its bed, and the vessel was slowly 
moving under the light land-breeze into the outer harbor. 

The inner basin lay still and unruffled as glass, but the 
long undulations on which they rose and fell told that the sea 
outside was still agitated, as the pitching and tossing of a 
market-fisherman which was bearing up for the harbor, and an 
occasional cloud of white spray thrown up by the dashing of 
the long, heavy rollers on the cliffs and ledges of the Magnolia 
shore, amply testified. 

" Thar’ll be a smartish chop-sea at the harbor’s mouth this 
morning; and ef any one’s qualmish, he’d better get below,” 
said the skipper. "See the rollers break on Norman’s Woe,” 
he continued, pointing to a cloud of white spray veiling a 
burst of yeasty froth broken by jagged points of half-sub¬ 
merged rock. 

"That is the scene of Longfellow’s grand poem, 'The 
Wreck of the Hesperus,’ Rob,” said Mr. Cameron, pleas¬ 
antly. " I suppose, though, you have often seen the place 
before.” 

"No, sir; I belong t’other side of the cape; but I know 
the poem by heart, and recited it last examination,” said Rob, 
proudly. " The captain here heard it,” he continued, laugh- 
ingly; "but he don’t seem to think so much of it as I do.” 

"What’s the matter with the poem, skipper?” asked Cam- 


12 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


eron, with a smile. ” Come, give us a regular criticism on it 
from a seaman’s standpoint.” 

"Wal, I ain’t no critic, an’ my mem’ry’s not the best in the 
world, but we’ve half a mile of smooth water, an’ ef Rob will 
repeat the varses — and I don’t say that they ain’t mighty 
pretty — I’ll give you my opinion of ’em at breakfast.” 

” Come, Rob, sit here on the trunk of the cabin, and repeat 
the poem for the skipper. You’ll never have such another 
chance, with a place so fitting and such a select audience.” 

Rob had a clear, sweet voice, and much genuine feeling, 
and though he spoke in a low tone, half the crew were 
listening around him when he recited the last stanzas: 

“ She struck where the white and fleecy waves 
Looked soft as carded wool; 

But the cruel rocks, they gored her sides 
Like the horns of an angry bull. 

Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice, 

With the masts, went by the board; 

Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank. 

‘ Ho, ho ! ho, ho ! ’ the breakers roared. 

At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach, 

A fisherman stood aghast, 

To see the form of a maiden fair 
Lashed close to a drifting mast. 

The salt sea was frozen on her breast, 

The salt tears in her eyes ; 

And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed, 

On the billows fall and rise. 

Such was the wreck of the Hesperus, 

In the midnight and the snow! 

Christ save us all from a death like this 
On the reef of Norman’s Woe ! ” 

As he closed, a suspicious clearing of throats told that the 
poet had at least awakened the sympathies of the crew; and 
even Skipper Clark, as he turned at the head of the cabin- 
stairs to tell the steersman to “ give her a couple of pints more 
northing,” betrayed a huskiness of tone quite unusual in him. 





EASTWARD, HO! 


13 


However, he rallied quickly, demolishing an appetizing 
meal of fish-bails, biscuits, mince-pie, and hot coffee, and after 
his third cup of the latter, proceeded to pronounce judgment. 



THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS. 


“ I don’t pretend to say that that ain’t a splendid poem ; an’ 
es there isn’t a man on board except you, Mr. Cameron, that 
hasn’t lost friends (an’ most of ’em relations) by wreck at sea, 
it can’t help but tetch the feelin’s of any man thet’s got a heart 










14 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

an’ feelin’s; but onless thet captain was a natural-born fool, 
things never happened on board thet craft es it says they did. 
In the fust place, bein’ as she was a schooner,”—and here 
Skipper Clark emphasized the point with his huge forefinger,— 
" she must hev’ laid low, an’ the gal couldn’t be so safe any- 
whar’ as in the cabin, an’ thar she must hev’ been ef her father 
was anythin’ but an idiot. In the second place, he must hev’ 
been a dumb fool to freeze to death at the wheel with his crew 
on deck; an’ they must hev’ been just as foolish not to relieve 
him as soon as he played out, fer, as they didn’t strip off their 
oilclothes for anybody, it’s likely they stood it longer than he 
did, bein’ dryer an’ warmer in course. Still, them last varses 
is a big thing, an’ no mistake; an’ if Mr. Longfellow had made 
just one little trip on a fore-an’-after, afore he wrote ’em, they 
couldn’t be beat by anything in the language.” 

As he spoke, he was filling his short clay pipe; and as he 
struck a match, he looked half uneasily at Cameron to see 
how the latter took his criticism of his favorite poet. Cameron 
smiled as he drew his cigar-case, and held out his hand for 
the half-consumed splinter. 

"I’ve nothing to say, captain; Solomon himself, if he knew 
anything of fore-an’-afters, would have said the same thing. 
The poem doesn’t stand close criticism as a realistic descrip¬ 
tion; but there’s few sea-faring men who don’t feel touched 
when they hear it for the first time.” 

By this time the schooner was pitching heavily, though 
going free, with the wind on her quarter; and as they issued 
on deck, Cameron pointed to the south, where another schooner 
was threshing, close-hauled, through the heavy billows. 

"There goes the 'Mary Odell,’ bound south for mackerel; 
and to my mind, the sky looks far from pleasant in that quar¬ 
ter. I’ve a notion we shall have a sharp sou’wester before 
nightfall.” 


EASTWARD, HO ! 


IS 


IS 


" Let it come,” said Clark, carelessly; "the ' Racer’ 
middlin’ well fixed for a blow, an’ the farther west it blows, 
the quicker we shall get to Sable. As it is, we’ll set the top 
an’ staysails, an’ drive the hussy toward Greenland as fast as 
we can.” 

While the crew were making sail, Rob surveyed the hull 
and rigging of the " Racer.” Her deck was roomy, with a 
graceful rise forward, and a very low quarter-deck ran aft from 
nearly amidships. Her rail, as is common with ships of her 
class, was so near the water that fish could be easily drawn on 
board by the crew; 
and her masts were 
nearly ninety feet 
long, and spread a 
tremendous sur¬ 
face of cotton-duck 
sails, which all fit¬ 
ted to a nicety. 

The wheel was of 
the latest patent, 
the windlass the 
best of its kind, 
the pumps were driven by cranks and heavy fly-wheels; and, 
in short, a yacht could scarcely be better fitted above deck 
than she was. 

She carried no boat at her davits;, but on deck there were 
stowed two long whale-boats, and four " nests ” of three dories 
each, together with several extra spars, and many long poles, 
pieces of lumber, and several cords of fire-wood. All these 
were, however, strongly secured, although .one nest of dories 
could readily be got at if needed. 

Lashed to the bulwarks, near the break of the quarter¬ 
deck, were two small brass cannon, an unusual concomitant 



THE MARY ODELL. 







16 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

of the outfit of a peaceful fisherman; but Cameron, as he noted 
the wonder of the boy, remarked, quietly: 

"The skipper isn’t going to turn pirate, Rob; but after we 
leave the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we shall be, a large part of the 
time, where might is right; men must guard against savage 
treachery.” 

"Ay! an’ I’ve seen the time when I’ve wished for such 
guns in the Gulf of St. Lawrence itself. The "planters” of 
the Labradore an’ Newfoundland have a pleasant way of com¬ 
ing out with their big boats an’ long sealing-guns to cut seines 
an’ drive away furriners. Thet’s a good deal like piracy, to 
my way of thinking; an’ ef a Hudson’s Bay Company’s vessel 
were to catch me selling a stick o’ cordwood to a Husky, an’ 
open fire as one did last year, I’d try an’ see ef I couldn’t play 
at long bowls as well as she.” 

The skipper’s huge features had lost their usual good- 
natured smile, and Cameron, catching Rob’s eye, placed his 
finger upon his lips. 

"We’ll hardly try to get through the Gulf, will we, skip¬ 
per? ” he asked with great apparent interest. " It’s so early in 
May that it seems to me we are likely to get into the ice.” 

"We must take our chance of ice anywhere this time of 
year; but so far, the Gulf has been very clear of heavy ice, an’ 
ef the wind favors best, I shall go through Canso into North 
Bay, or round Scatari, an’ out by the Straits” (of Belle Isle). 

" Shall we have any chance at the seals going down? I 
want some skins of the young ' whitecoats ’ for specimens.” 

"You’re too late now, even ef we were five hundred miles 
farther along than we are, though I reckon that, on some of 
the floes away north, the Newfoundlanders are clubbing the 
poor creatures at this very moment.” 

"Why is it that our people never fit out any sealing- 
vessels? Couldn’t we compete with the Newfoundlanders?” 


EASTWARD, HO! Ij 

The worthy skipper’s face wore an expression of utter 
scorn. " Compete, sir? Why, ef magazine carbines or breech- 
loadin’ guns are better than six-foot muskets loaded with 
moulded swan-shot, and hundred-pound dories are handier 
than punts built of inch spruce, and payed with coal-tar, our 
fellows ought to kill two seals for every one that a clumsy, 
lazy, ignorant Newfoundlander can rap on the head with a 
seven-foot club. Then we could be sure of getting into the 
ice earlier than 
they can; for we 
can set into the 
' pack ’ from the 
east’ard, while 
they are some¬ 
times shut into 
the harbors by 
easterly winds 
driving the ice 
against the shore. 

They’ve got it 
all, though; and 
they’ve thirty or 
forty fine steam¬ 
ers built a pur¬ 
pose for the business, besides brigs an’ schooners to the num¬ 
ber of several hundred.” 

” They say that the steamers will go through ice of great 
thickness, and stand any amount of 'nipping,’” continued 
Cameron. 

"Thet’s so, sir. Their bows have a great rake, an’ are 
built as solid as wood and iron can make ’em; an’ when they 
steam into a field of ice, it is broken down by the 'weight o’ 
the vessel, which rises up on it, instead of wedgin’ into it. 



KILLING SEALS. 


2 






i8 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 




Some o’ them carries a hundred an’ sixty men, an’ boats to 
match. To my way o’ thinkin’, there ain’t less’n a couple of 



THE TOP OF A BIG ICEBERG. 


million dollars’ worth of skins an’ ile taken every spring off’n 
the great floes.” 

" I’ve seen the floes covered with young ’uns,” said Jabez 




















EASTWARD, HO ! 


x 9 


Strong, the mate, " es fur es I could see from the top of a big 
iceberg. I was out in a New York steamer, the ' Monticello,’ 
an’ we hed lain in the pack, through a three-days’ blow, as 
snug as ef we were tied up to a wharf, for there wasn’t a sign 
of open water for miles an’ miles; an’what was strangest of 
all, there wasn’t an’ old seal in sight — only young ones. 

" Thet night the pack opened, an’ we got up among the 
floes, an’ killed a couple of thousand prime seals; but ef we 
could hev been thar before the fields drifted apart, we could 
hev got ten times as many.” 

" How did you kill them?’’asked Rob. 

"Oh, every sealer carries a long hard-wood club, with a 
band of iron at the big end, an’ sometimes a spike in it, an’ a 
smart blow on the head or end of the nose will gen’rally kill 
any seal except what we call the ' old hoods.’ They have a 
great helmet of gristly flesh thet they blow out like a bladder; 
an’ you might as well strike your club on a big bass-drum. 
We used to kill sech seals with our rifles.” 

"The proper name for them is Phoca cristata , or the 
crested seal,” said Cameron; "but the Greenlanders among 
whom we are going call them Ussuk . We shall see plenty 
of them in a few days at farthest.” 

The next day they were off Cape Sable; but the wind 
veered suddenly, and by night it was only too evident that a 
storm was brewing, and one which, to judge by the ominous 
bank of vapors around and above, might well last for two or 
three days at the least. 

Already the mainsail and foresail had been reefed as the 
wind grew in violence, although, as the "Racer” carried a 
weather-helm, the huge jib still retained its heavy bonnet, and 
at times dashed the quivering bowsprit into some combing 
surge, until, under the weight of water, the swift schooner 
trembled like a strong-bow stopped in its rebound. 


20 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


" I don’t like it a bit,” at last said Clark. " We’re to hev 
easterly weather for a day or two; an’ ef so, the sooner we 
gets into a harbor the better; but I don’t know much about 
the lan’ hereaway.” 

"If she’d be Aspatogon, ’cordin’ tu the epitome,” said 
Jabez Strong. 

" Thar’s good anch’rage there, but I don’no as I’d fancy try¬ 
ing on it myself. Halifax I’ve been into, an’ ef so be it don’t 
blow heavier, we’ll be in thar by mornin’.” 

" I kin put ye inter Mahone Bay, ef thet’s what ye want; ” 
and as all turned, the white locks and dripping oil-clothes of 
Daddy Gunnison shone in the glimmer of the binnacle-lamp. 

"Do ’ee know this part o’ the coast then?” asked Clark, 
rather wonderingly; "I’ve never heerd ye speak of bein’ in 
along hereaway, that I know on.” 

" It’s a matter I care little about mentionin’, but I kin see 
wi’out a chart ivery foot o’ the coast from Halifax tu Lunen¬ 
burg,” said the old man in his solemn way; "an’ ef I were 
you, I’d ruther put in naow than run the resk of lay in’ the 
' Racer’s ’ bones somewhar along Sambro’.” 

" Wal, then, we’ll try it. Yew take charge, daddy, an’ I’ll 
help yew at the helium; ” and accordingly the old man, after a 
short observation from the main shrouds, joined the skipper at 
the wheel. 

"We’re dead to wind’ard,” said he, quietly; "an’ we’ll 
lower the jib, git in the mains’l, an’ run in under the fores’l.” 

"All han’s on deck! ” roared Clark; and up from the cabin 
and roomy forecastle hurried the few not already on deck. 
" Let go the jib halliards! ” he shouted; and as the huge sail 
came down by the run, the spokes of the wheel flew over 
quickly to meet the press of the broad expanse of after-sail. 

" Lower mains’l! ” was the next order, as the sharp bows 
forged slowly into the wind, and the light craft lay rocking 


EASTWARD, HO! 


21 


like a sea-gull on the heavy rollers, which swiftly swept her 
shoreward. The whole strength of the crew soon furled the 
flapping canvas, and the heavy boom was secured by the sheet 
and extra lashings from swinging across the narrow quarter¬ 
deck. 

"Naow, Jabez, stand by the foresheet, an’ let her wear,” 
cried the captain; and Strong, with Knowles and Freeman, the, 
black cook, braced the heavy sail to windward until her bows 
fell off*from the seas; and in less time than it takes to write it, 
they were racing shoreward with the swelling surges which 
here and there broke into foam on sunken ledge or isolated 
rock. x 

To the eastward was heard the thunder of their dashing 
against the savage, barren sides of Ironbound Island, and over 
the clustering ledges of Gnome Rock their white crests rose in 
ghostly menace, or faded amid the mists like the malicious 
water-sprite of German story. 

It was a wild night, and the bravest of the crew, at times, 
held their breaths, for all knew that a mistake would be fatal, 
and without remedy; for on that savage shore the rollers of 
the deep sea break against cliffs at whose base the tallest ship 
can find no resting-place for a shattered keel, until her wave- 
swept decks lie far below the foam of the billows. 

But the old fisherman, calm, grave, and low-voiced as was 
his wont, seemed perfectly at home amid these strange chan¬ 
nels, and, one by one, low-lying islands and rocky promontories 
emerged from the fog for a moment, to be passed in safety, and 
give place to other landmarks. 

Ere long, however, the " Racer ” had penetrated within the 
inner harbor, and in still water, for the many islands broke off 
the wind, and the fog hung heavy and thick around as she 
slowly forged ahead in perfect silence, all listening for wash 
of wave or warning fog-horn, while every eye sought to pierce 


22 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


the ghostly canopy, and avoid any isolated rock or anchored 
coaster in our track. 

" I heerd a wash jest naow, I’m almost certain,” said Jabez, 
quietly, at last. "A little to larboard, I think it was.” 

" It can’t be,” said Gunnison; " fur it’s deep enough to lar- 
bo’rd, an’ it’s on t’other han’ we mus’ look for danger. How^ 
ever, stan’ by, Jabez, wi’ the lead, an’ give us the water onsf 
or twict.” 

Jabez caught up the line, and, with a long-practised swing, 
sent the heavy lead far forward down into the mist-covered 
water, and then deftly handed it in again. 

"What water hev you?” asked Gunnison. 

" Somewhar abaout seven fathoms,” answered Strong. " I 
ken’t jest tell ’xactly, fur th’ fog’s tew thick fur thet.” 

"’Twon’t dew,” said Gunnison, decidedly. "We’re off’n 
Nass’s Islan’ somewhar, an’ our anch’rage is in eight fathom. 
We must hev a light, cap’n.” 

Cameron had a lantern of peculiar shape, with a powerful 
reflector and bull’s-eye, and, as being much more useful than 
the miserable ones furnished to vessels, it had been, with his 
consent, put into general use. He brought it up from the 
cabin, and held it for Strong. 

"thet’s right,” said he;, "let it shine right along her side, 
an’ I’ll get the depth to an inch. Jehoshaphat! ” he exclaimed, 
" ther’s thet wash again, an’ nearer too, but on the starboard 
this time. Did ye hear it, daddy?” 

" No, sir,” said the temporary pilot. " But heave away, an’ 
let’s know the depth.” > 

The heavy plummet fell into the water with a sullen 
plunge, the line ran out, the vessel forged ahead, and, as the 
lead-line for an instant ran straight down into the black water, 
Strong said, quietly, "A quarter less seven.” 


EASTWARD, Ho! 


2 3 


"We must hev eight fathom,” said Gunnison, decidedly; 
" for when I was aboard the ' Teazer ’ — ” 

A shriek, close aboard, broke the silence, and the sound of 
oars, clumsily handled, mingled with cries of terror and incen¬ 
tives to extreme exertion. 

"O Marie sainte et misericordieuse! ” growled a deep 
bass voice in Arcadian patois, " Howly mother, have mer-- 
cy! ” another howled in the rich brogue of Erin. "Bull avay 
now, I tells you; dis is not ze bestermos’ dimes to shtop an’ 
pray. Bull like der teufel!” was the more practical exhorta¬ 
tion of some unknown of German extraction. 

"Boat ahoy!” hailed Gunnison, who, taking the lantern, 
went forward and turned its glare toward the invisible boat, 
which seemed unable to keep ahead of the " Racer,” for, in a 
moment or two, all saw a large two-masted shallop manned 
by five men, four of whom were tugging desperately at rough 
and clumsy sweeps, but in evident and mortal terror. 

No one answered the hail, but Gunnison seemed to be at 
no loss as to its cause. " Hev no fear,” said he, gravely. 
" This is the * Racer ’ of Glo’ster, baound for the bay, an’ driv’n 
in by stress o’ weather. Whar’s the bes’ holdin’-ground nigh 
here? ” 

"An’ ye’re not the 'Tazer’ at all, at all?” hailed the Irish¬ 
man, evidently much relieved, while an audible "Sacre bleu!” 
from the Frenchman, and a surly " Der teufel’s togs ! ” from 
the astonished Teuton, bore evidence of the mingled relief and 
vexation aroused by the announcement of our vessel’s name 
and destination. 

"Der harbor is shust ahead,” said the German. "You 
shoost has to make de eight fathom, den down anchor. But 
vhere hast got sush von lantern? I shoost so certain as never 
vas dat you vas der spook of der vessel dat vas plow oup in de 
las’ var.” 


24 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


"The 'Teazer’ has sailed her las’,” said Gunnison, gravely; 
" an’ few of her fated crew but hev long ago slep’ the’r las’ 
sleep like the dead that lie below. Will you come aboard an’ 
pilot us up?” 

"Veil, I dun’no but I vill. Here, Rene, take in dat sweep. 
Patrick, run her along de main chain. Trow us a rope.” 

So saying, the fisherman — a short, broad-shouldered man 
of forty years or thereabouts — stepped aboard, and, taking the 
helm, changed her course slightly, and in ten minutes later she 
had passed the dim anchor-light of a coaster, and her long 
fishing-anchor, with its hempen cable, held her securely in 
Chester Harbor. 

It was a matter of course, on American fishing-schooners 
in those days, both to live well and to be hospitable to all 
mariners and casual visitors; and half an hour later, the 
strangers were sitting around the crowded hanging-table for¬ 
ward, and eating enormous quantities of baked beans, mince- 
pie, doughnuts, and bread and butter, washed down by copious 
draughts of coffee. As at last they drew back in complete 
content, Gunnison turned to the Teuton, a descendant of one 
of those Hessian soldiers to whom Great Britain, at the close 
of the Revolution, gave liberal grants of wilderness lands in 
Nova Scotia. 

"Hev you eny objection tu givin’ me your name?” asked 
Gunnison. 

" Donner und blitzen, no! Johan Pentz has no need to be 
ashamed for his name, nor his fader'before him, man an’ poy.” 

"Johan Pentz, did ye say? Was your father John Pentz, 
of Lunenburg, who berrid the mate of the 'Young Teazer’?” 

" Yaas, dat vas his name/ an’ many a time I has heard him 
tell how faint an seek at heart fie vas.” 

" ’Twas a fearsome sight. These old eyes have seen many 
things, but never one more tumble than thet.” 


EASTWARD, HO! 


2 5 


" Gott in Himmel! Vast dou dere? ’Tis more as fifty 
years ago, an’ few are living dat saw it. ’Tis fifteen years 
since fader died, an’ he was but young an’ lusty den.” 

” I was young too, but rated as carpenter. Ye’ve heerd, 
maybe, of Lish Gunnison, who saved the rest in the water?” 

"Ay, ay! often I’ve heard de story from de old man. But 
? tis won’erful. You must now have seventy years at de least.” 

" Seventy an’ six y’ars I hev lived, an’ with six borrowed 
years beyond the life of man, the Lord leaves me stren’th to 
follow the seas, as I shell do till he calls me.” 

"Die Henkers! ’tis won’erful. Tell us of de chase, old 
man; for I’ve never heard de rights of de story, an’ often I’ve 
seen de 'Teazer’ light close aboard my shallop.” 

"Yes, Uncle Lish, the story! I’ve heerd sunthin’ on it 
afore, but I al’ays consaited it was down on the Main,” said 
Clark; and all joined in the general expression of desire to 
hear the old man’s narrative. 

Rembrandt might have joyed to paint the crowded forecas¬ 
tle, lit dimly by its hanging-lamps gleaming through gathering 
tobacco-smoke like beacons through sea-mist, and the tough, 
sea-tanned mariners listening intently to the old fisherman, 
who sat, pipe in hand, at the head of the table, while the black 
cook, heedless of unfinished duties, leaned against his berth by 
the stove, with his black eyeballs glaring in breathless interest 
from their wide margin of white. 


2 6 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


CHAPTER III. 

Gunnison’s story. — the chase of the " young teazer.” 

“ TT was early in May, in the y’ar 1813, that we sailed 
i out’n New York, in the privateer ' Young Teazer.’ 
She war named arter another privateer, the 'Teazer’ — a 
schooner carryin’ two guns, which had been taken by the 
fleet of Commodore Warr’n the y’ar afore; an’ her cap’n, one 
Johnson, had been parolled, but broke his parole, an’ was made 
our leftenant. 

" She war little larger then this vess’l — about seventy feet 
keel, built of the best white-oak, full copper-fastened, cop¬ 
pered to the water-line, low-decked, sharp-bowed, hed double 
bulwarks filled in wi’ cork to the rail, was painted black, an’ 
kerried an ugly-lookin’ alligator for a figur-hed. 

"We hed fifty men, boys, an’ officers when we left York, 
kerryin’ a long thirty-two pivoted amidships, an’ a nine for’ard, 
and plenty of muskits, cutlasses, an’ pistols. We could spread 
a press o’ sail, an’ sixteen sweeps, rigged on our low rail, could 
move us five knot an hour when we had need. Dawson, our 
cap’n, was a pleasant-spoken man an’ a good sailor; but John¬ 
son was dark, ’spicious, an’ ugly, an’ I reckon often wished 
himself at hum, until he was exchanged at least. 

" Wal, we ran down the coasts of New Brunswick an’ 
Nova Scotia, an’ took several small prizes, often seein’ English 
cruisers, and often chased by them, but on a wind we could 
sail two feet to one o’ theirn, an’ in a calm our sweeps took us 


2 7 


THE CHASE OF THE "YOUNG TEAZER,” 

out o’ reach o’ their guns, an’ their boats didn’t keer to foller 
tew dost. 

" Thar was an eighteen-gun brig, the ' Sir John Sherbrooke,’ 
of Liverpool, fitted out as a privateer, thet at last heerd o’ our 
doin’s, an’on the 20th o’June, as we lay abaout five miles off’n 
thet harbor, we saw her cornin’ daown inside Coffin’s Island 
She gained on us at fust, fer she brought the wind with her; 
but we clapped all han’s on the sweeps, an’ when her bow- 
chasers were almost in range, we got a wholes’l breeze, an’ led 
her half-way to Sable Islan’, where we dropped her in a fog, 
an’ run back toward Liverpool. 

" But the 23d she was there agin, an’ this time we had to 
go east’ard, until, under the Isle Madame, a sou’-easter cost 
him a studdin’-s’l boom, an’ gave us all we both wanted to do 
to claw off shore an’ keep above water; but when, on the 27th, 
we sighted Coffin’s Islan’ again, it wasn’t two hours afore we 
saw him cornin’ daown from the south’ard wi’ all sail set, an’ 
Dawson called all han’s to make sail. 

"Wal, we packed on every stitch of canvas, an’ threw 
water on the sails; but she hed the win’, as ushil, an’ was 
cornin’ down like a race-horse, while we had scurcely steerage¬ 
way. 'We mus’ get out the sweeps,’ said Johnson, in his 
nervous way, ' or we’re gone for certin.’ 

"' Oh, we’ll get the win’ soon, an’ then we’ll show her our 
heels agin,’ said Dawson, cheerfully. ' However, out with the 
sweeps, an’ let’s keep our distance. She’s too heavy for us to 
fight, thet’s a fact.’ 

"'Fight!’ said Johnson, wildly; 'she’d blow us out of 
water in less’n half-a-glass. But I can’t surrender myself, an’ 
I won’t, while the magazine is beneath us.’ 

"'Don’t be afraid, man,’said Dawson; 'we’ve done well 
enough; we’ve dropped him twict before, an’ — ’ 

"'Sail, ho!’ shouted the lookout from the masthead. 


'Where away?’ called back the captain, quickly. 'Dead to 
leeward! She looks like a ship of war! ’ 



THE CHASE OF THE “YOUNG TEAZER.” 


"'It must be the La Hogue,’ said Johnson, as white as death. 
" By this time the breeze had freshened a little, and we, 















THE CHASE OF THE “YOUNG TEAZER.” 29 

with sweeps and sails, were crawling off fast; and had it not 
been for the man-o’-war to leeward, we shed ha’ done well 
enough, but at about eight bells in the arternoon, we saw her, 
like a pyramid of canvas, source two mile off on our larboard 
bow, while the ' Sherbrooke ’ was bearing down like a race¬ 
horse. 

w 'We must put her about,’ said Dawson, 'and run into 
Mahone Bay. The fog lies heavy in thar jest now, an’ we 
may drop them among the islan’s.’ 

"' There’s a gun from the ' La Hogue,’ said Robinson, the 
gunner. The shot fell far short of us, and the men shouted in 
'derision, but Dawson looked grave, and listened intently as 
if for the echo. 

"A few minutes later, two dull reports came back in an¬ 
swer. One was from a belt of fog just ahead, the other from 
nigh the shore to the west’ard. 

"'Put her about,’ said Dawson. 'We’re in the trap, an’ 
naow our on’y chance is tu drop ’em among the islan’s an’ 
the fog, ef God wills it.’ 

"The vessel tacked as ef she knew the danger; and wi’ the 
flood-tide we swept in fer the shore, hidden in fog, an’ showin’, 
here an’ there, pints an’ bits of rock where an hundred islan’s 
lay in the vapor. 'We shell drop ’em,’ said Johnson, a little 
more cheerfully. ' They daren’t follow in the big un, an’ as to 
the frigates, we can dodge ’em among the islan’s.’ 

" But it wasn’t so to be, fer long afore we could pass out of 
range of the man-o’-war, the wind slacked, an’ we hed to put 
into Mahone Bay, when the fog suddenly lifted, an’ showed us 
the ' Orpheus ’ frigate closing in on us fast, an’ jest at mid¬ 
channel, by the Sculpin rock, we tacked and stood into Spin- 
dler’s Cove, an’ thar, tackin’ again, went slowly out before the 
win’ atween Cross Islan’ an’ East Pint; an’ seein’ the 'La 


30 


DRIFTING - ROUND THE WORLD. 


Hogue ’ nigh at han’, an’ the win’ light, we got into Chester 
Bay, inside o’ Big Tancook. 

" Ef the win’ hed held even then, we might ha’ got cl’ar; 
an’ even as it was, Dawson did not give up, altho’ the fog had 
lifted, an’ the boats of the ' La Hogue ’ an’ ' Orpheus,’ headed 
by launches wi’ guns in their bows, were follerin’ us up on 
the flood-tide. 'Trice up the nettin’s,’ said he; 'double-shot 
the guns wi’ grape an’ canister, an’ get all ready to repel 
boarders. Ef we can keep them off until night, we shall get 
clear yet.’ 

" The men war nearly beat out at the sweeps, but he told 
’em to get her farder up the bay, an’ then called the officers' 
together on the quarter-deck. It was the las’ time I ever saw 
him, alive or dead, an’ I remember it all like it was yisterday. 

" The bay was like glass, the islan’s green an’ dotted wi* 
sheep an’ cattle, an’ our white sail, spread from deck to main- 
truck, hardly tugged at the slackened sheets thet dragged idly 
in the water, churned into foam by the tough ashen oars. 

" The gunner stood by the long brass thirty-two, kept 
bright as gold, which he hed trained aft, waiting until the fore- 
mos’ boat shed get within range, an’ as I passed for’ard, he 
said, 'You’ll see splinters fly pretty soon, Chips. Old Bess’ll 
give ’em at least one all-sufficient dose before they pull down 
thet flag.’ And Robinson, who raally loved a fight, touched 
his hat as the cap’n beckoned him aft. 

"' Pass the word for Mr. Johnson.’ The order came for’ard, 
but he was not thar. The mate in the fore-hold hedn’t seen 
him; the boatswain hailed from the tops that he’d just gone 
into the galley. The main-boom was braced to larboard, ’an 
jest then I, who stood by the pivot-gun, saw him come out o’ 
the galley, an’ in his han’ was a brand o’ light-wood. 

" His eyes were full of a strange, dev’lish light, but great 
black circles were un’er them; an’ his face an’ lips were as 


THE CHASE OF THE "YOUNG TEAZER.” 31 

white as the^dead. I felt at once the horrid truth, an’ hailed 
the quarter-deck. 

"'Cap’n Dawson,’ cried I, 'Mr. Johnson’s goin’ aft with a 
brand to blow up the ship! ’ They started and looked toward 
me, an’ Johnson skipped like a cat down the hatchway. 

"I can’t tell you what happened arter. I hev a mem’ry, 
like a dream, of a vast sheet of vivid fire, of seein’ the pivot- 



gun, with the bodies of men and the sweeps they held, sailin’ 
in the air, an’ of a dense darkness thet shet out ev’ythin’ until 
I came to myself, an’ foun’ that I was tangled amongst a lot of 
spars an’ riggin’ alongside a blackened, smokin’ wreck, cov¬ 
ered wi’ ghastly gobbets o’ flesh an’ big splashes o’ hair an’ 
blood. 

" The boat lay astern, an’ the painter still fast, an’ I man¬ 
aged to get to it an’ cut loose; an’ hearin’ a hail, I paddled 














3 2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


about, an’ picked up fust one an’ then another, until eight of 
us were in the boat, half blind, scorched, blackened, deafened, 
half stunned, with shattered limbs an’ missin’ fingers, but alive. 

"We out oars, an’ rowed ashore to Anschutz’s Island, 
unmolested by the boats thet pursued, an’ gave ourselves up to 
one Martin Rafuse, who next day took us to Lunenburg, an’ 
arter a while we was sent to Halifax, an’ exchanged. 

" Thet’s the story, boys, an’ I don’t won’er much thet they 
think that the poor old 'Teazer’ comes back to these waters. 
Hev you ever seen it, John Pentz?” 

"Seen it? Gott in Himmel! Yaas; I has mos’ always 
see, shust afore de easterly win’s, such as ve has in de shpring 
dimes.” 

"What is it like, Pentz?” asked Clark, gravely. 

" It is von ball of vire, somedimes larger, an’ somedimes 
not so pig. Somedimes it rises, shust avay from your boat, an’ 
somedimes you shust sees it from de town yonder, an’ always 
near de one place. I has seen it shoot py me like a flash in 
de foggy night, an’ I has seen it dance on de vater like a 
burnin’ tar-barrel on a short sea. But it is never so red as 
eart’ly light, an’ it is always near de Islan’ where, fifty years 
ago, mine, fader fainted beside de bloody wreck of de 'Young 
Teazer.’ ” 

" Now, that’s what I call a story,” said Cameron; "that’s 
the kind of yarn that I like to hear. Haven’t you another of 
the same calibre, Uncle Lish?” 

"’Tain’t my way, mister,” said Gunnison, gravely, "tew 
keep a solemn face on when the heart should rej’ice, but I 
can’t laugh at even yew, to-night, fer I’m thinkin’ o’ brave 
hearts an’ strong han’s — ay, lad, an’ merry hearts tew — thet 
were flung to the win’s an’ waves, like butcher’s offal, when 
the 'Teazer’s’ magazine was fired by that desp’rate madman 
half a century ago.” 


NOVA SCOTIA. — LOBSTER CANNING. 


33 


V. 


CHAPTER IV. 

NOVA SCOTIA. — LOBSTER-CANNING. — SAMBRO. — CANSEAU. 

The clay broke but gloomily, for 
the fog was so thick that the end 
of the jib-boom was scarcely per¬ 
ceivable from the quarter-deck. 
The gale, however, had ” blown 
jUg? itself out,” and in the afternoon the 
wind suddenly shifted, and blew 
sharp and rather chilly from the north¬ 
west, driving the great fog-bank bodily 
to seaward, and displaying as it did so 
the most striking effects as hamlets, wooded 
shores, mossy and coppiced ledges, and the 
labyrinthine islets of Mahone Bay in turn 
disclosed themselves. 

The trees were just arrayed in their bright- 
green foliage, the land birds already choosing 
their nesting-places; and although early in the 
season, the great herons were already to be 
seen stalking over the shallows, or moodily 
waiting the approach of their finny victims. 
Captain Clark decided not to go out until the 
sea had a little subsided, and went ashore to 
purchase some small articles at the village 
store, and Cameron and Rob accompanied them. 

They landed at a mouldering wharf, and found the ancient 
buildings thereon occupied by a lobster-canning establishment. 

3 




34 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


A great floating car lay moored in the deep, clear water, and 
several men were engaged in passing the bottle-green victims 
into huge iron cages, which one by one were swung by a 
derrick into large tanks of sea-water, kept boiling by super¬ 
heated steam from a boiler near by. Half an hour sufficed to 



SCENE IN MAHONE BAY. 


turn their shells to a brilliant scarlet, and as soon as they were 
sufficiently cool to handle, men extracted the meat, and filled 
up the small two-pound cans, thousands of which were stacked 
up near at hand. 

When filled, the covers were soldered on, and the cans 
placed in a bath of boiling water until the ends were bulged 




























36 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

out by the heated air inside. The cans were then taken in 
hand by a man, who, driving a sharp point into the can, 
allowing the air and steam to escape with a sharp hiss, instantly 
sealed up the aperture with a drop of solder; and when cold, 
the concavity of the ends, pressed in by the pressure of the 
atmosphere, showed that the cans were indeed w hermetically 
sealed.” 

In another part of the building, girls were pasting on many- 
colored labels, aftd packing the cans in clean pine cases hold¬ 
ing two dozen each. The visitors also saw cans of boiled 
fresh mackerel similarly put up, but were told that they were 
of last year’s catch, none having as yet been taken. 

Captain Clark made purchases of both lobsters and mack¬ 
erel, as these canned goods are most convenient of carriage, 
and will keep years without spoiling; for he knew that it was 
not impossible that he might be carried by the ice into some 
desolate bay, whence he might not be able to extricate his 
vessel until the return of the short arctic summer. 

At daybreak the next morning they sailed out of the har¬ 
bor, and as they proceeded, Gunnison pointed out the course 
of the fated "Teazer,” and the narrow channel, shut in by ver¬ 
dant islets, where her desperate lieutenant involved himself 
and his comrades in common ruin. He also pointed out Mount 
Aspotogon, whose ribs of oxidized iron-stone show here and 
there amid coppices of young maples, at whose feet, a few 
years before, the pirate " Chesapeake ” had lain hidden in an 
inlet deep enough for a ship of the line, but completely shut in 
by a heavily wooded promontory. On the other side lay Oak 
Island, where thousands of dollars have been spent to pene¬ 
trate the mysteries of a vast pit, an hundred feet or more in 
depth, which communicates with the sea by a secret drain, 
which thus far has faithfully pitted the incoming waters against' 
all the resources of engineering skill, and the efforts of those - 


. 

OFF CAPE SAMBRO. 37 

who seek to penetrate the secrets of what is believed to be the 
treasure-house of Captain Kidd, or some other ocean rover of 
by-gone generations. 

"At every ten feet of the excavation,” said Cameron, "the 
miners found an oaken platform of heavy logs, and the drain 
at its mouth on the outer shore of the island is built with loose 
stone, chinked with the husks of the cocoa-nut. It seems far 
from unlikely that this harbor should have been chosen as the 
location of a pirate’s treasure, for even its name Mahone is 



CAPE SAMBRO. 


corrupted from the Sicilian Mahonne , meaning a galley, long 
a favorite craft with buccaneers.” 

" Thar’s Sacrifice Islan’, too,” continued Gunnison, " whar, 
in the old French war, the Micmacs took twenty-two Yankee 
fishermen, and killed a lot o’ them in cold blood. I tell yew 
thar isn’t a cove or cape or islan’ hereabouts but hes its story 
of death, sufferin’, or myst’ry.” 

At noon they passed Cape Sambro, with its light-house 
and signal-station, and saw afar off the harbor of Halifax, 
unequalled for convenience and safe anchorage in the New 













3 « 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


World, but, from the dense fogs which prevail, the location of 
many wrecks, which, owing to the abruptness of the rocky 
coast, are seldom without serious loss of life. Besides lofty 
merchantmen, stout brigs, and swift schooners, large steamers 
and noble frigates have been beaten against the precipitous 
cliffs, which in many places have several fathoms of water 
beside them at the lowest tides. 

The wind held westerly until the next morning, when they 
approached the Gut of Canseau; 
and as they neared the shore, Mr. 
Cameron fired several shots at 
flocks of coots and other sea-fowl 
at rest on the water, ahead of the 
schooner. When he killed, as the 
wind was very light, Jabez Strong 
would go off in a small dory, and 
retrieve the birds; and Freeman, 
the black cook, got up a sea-pie 
the next day for all hands from 
the coots, sheldrakes, and " sprig- 
tails ” thus secured. 

There are two entrances to this strait, or rather the entrance 
is divided by a small island into two channels, called Great 
and Little Canseau; but Clark did not care to run the w Racer” 
aground, and preferred to take the farther and larger passage. 
In passing through this strait, between Cape Breton and Nova 
Scotia, many striking and beautiful views presented them¬ 
selves. Little coves, forming miniature harbors, where a sin¬ 
gle wharf, with half a dozen houses and as many anchored 
schooners, denoted a centre of provincial trade; cleared fields, 
surrounded by virgin forest, where the ploughman drove his 
spirited horses among projecting boulders and the stumps of 
gigantic pines; cascades and mountain streams still swollen 



A MOUNTAIN STREAM. 




THE STRAITS OF CANSEAU. 


39 


by the melting snow-drifts in the inland forest-hills; and nar¬ 
row roads, winding cautiously around the rocky promontories 
and crossing abrupt defiles by lofty bridges, — attracted the 
attention of the boy-sailor on every hand. 

But there were no signs of the rapid growth of these lim¬ 
ited circles of trade and civilization, and Rob remarked to 
Mr. Cameron that he supposed that these straits had not been 
long settled, as there were so few houses. 

" I don’t wonder that you think so, Rob, for it would be 
hard to find on earth a spot so beautiful and so favored by 
position and nature that does not boast of ten times as many 
inhabitants. But Canseau has been for over two hundred and 
fifty years the water highway between Canada and the shores 
of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New England; and yet, 
as you see, it seems at many points as wild and desolate as 
when the first French vessel stemmed its swift tides.” 

"The people here ain't over an’ above enterprisin’,” said 
Jabez Strong; "an’ though the best mackerel ground in the 
North Bay is at their very doors as you may say, thar’s mighty 
few vessels about here in the business. It suits ’em better to 
sell us mis’able barr’ls, poor pork, bait, an’ ice, an’ what’s 
worse, rum, when a big fleet is storm-stayed, an’ let us 
ketch the fish, than to do it themselves; but ef we had it 
fairly annexed — wal, you’d see a different place, I reckon.” 

"There’s been many a stirring scene enacted here in the 
old French wars,” said Cameron, as the "Racer” swept round 
a curve of the straits into a narrow channel, apparently scarce 
a mile across; "and no doubt many .a sharp fight has wakened 
the echoes of these wooded heights that slope down to the 
water on either hand.” 

"I’ve heerd the old folks say,” said Gunnison, "thet when 
the Indians and French was the only ones here, thet they used 
to kill both caribou an’ moose here as they tried to cross from 


, ^ ... - * ' • ‘ 

40 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

one shore to the other. Ye see it’s mighty narrer here, an’ 
they could chase them in their bark canoes, an’ kill them with 
spears an’ paddles.” 

"They’m mighty cute craft, them birches,” said Jabez, as 
they made the last reach of the winding strait, and saw before 

them the widen¬ 
ing North Bay, 
studded with 
floating ice, driv¬ 
en eastward by 
the wind now al¬ 
most due west. 
"Thar’s one now 
in shore, an’ 
makin’ for the 
land. I reckon 
we’ll tack once 
more, and we’ll 
get near enough 
to give Rob his 
first look at a real 
Indian canoe an’ 
her crew.” 

The order 
"About!” was 
now given. The 
"Racer,” cov¬ 
ered with canvas from truck to deck, and at times nearly scup¬ 
pers under as she caught the occasional puffs of the freshening 
breeze, seemed almost able to sail into its very teeth, and by the 
time the canoe had landed on the Nova Scotia side, they were 
dashing past at only a few hundred yards’ distance. Rob saw 
that three men landed, all tall, straight, and armed with mus- 














INTO THE NORTH BAY. 


4 1 


kets; and two, taking the canoe upon their shoulders, crossed 
the narrow strip of land which lay between the straits and a 
lake bordered by wooded shores, across which the setting sun, 
throwing a gleam of red light adown the inland hills and 
across the placid waters, presented a scene of rare interest and 
strangely fascinating beauty. 



ON THE LOOKOUT. 


The " Racer ” ran off upon the starboard tack, the crew 
took in topsail and staysail as too light for the increasing gale, 
and a man was sent forward to watch the thin and rotten floes 
around them, lest the " Racer” should batter her graceful 
bows upon some remnant of a Greenland glacier. 

"We shall have a fine run,” said Skipper Clark, as he 
came aft rubbing his hands; "an’by the time this westerly 
puff blows out, we shall be well over towards the Magdalens. 



















42 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


’Twill be some time, I reckon, Rob, afore you see Canseau 
an’ the Nova Scotia shore agin.” 

The sun was almost down, the Indian hunters had nearly 
reached the lake, and were about to launch their light bark, 
and Cameron saw that the whole scene, with its vista of sun¬ 
set glory and sheltered quiet, would in an instant more pass 
from their view. 

"Look, Rob, once more,” he said; "for we must go below, 
and we shall find in yonder cold and darkening hills no scen6 
so worthy of our lingering glances as we bid a long ' good¬ 
night’ to Nova Scotia.” 








THE MAGDALENS. 


43 


CHAPTER V. 

THE MAGDALENS.-BIRD ROCK.- FRESH EGGS.-EPICU¬ 
REAN DELICACIES.-LABRADOR.-TRAPPING 

1 SABLES.-SHOOTING A LYNX. 

HE night passed with little of interest to 
chronicle; and although the navigation 
during the first watches was a little per¬ 
plexing, owing to the presence of consid¬ 
erable floating ice, the larger part of the 
broken belt was passed before midnight. 
Luckily, however, the lookouts did not 
relax their vigilance; for during Rob’s 
watch just before daybreak, the man for¬ 
ward suddenly yelled out, " Iceberg, ho! 
Dead ahead!” 

Strong leapt up from the lee of the trunk 
where he had been nodding, and, with a 
glimpse under the fore-sheet, cried out to 
the helmsman, "Bear away! Lively, man! 
lively! ” 

Suiting the action to the word, he seized 
the wheel, and, whirling it over with all 
his strength, payed off before the wind until the sails gibed; 
and Rob, startled into momentary stupefaction, saw a mass of 
glittering white flash by on the larboard quarter, so close that 
a biscuit could have been tossed upon its jagged sides. The 
strain upon masts and rigging had been terrible, and, though 








44 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


all held fast, Skipper Clark had been rolled out of his berth by 
the sudden heeling of the vessel, and came upon deck in no 
very amiable frame of mind, if one might judge by his remarks 
as he stumbled up the narrow companion-way. A glance aft, 
and the dashing of the sea and tide against the anchored berg 
astern, changed the current of his thoughts amazingly. 

"Very well done, Jabez,” said he; "you’ve saved the best 
schooner in Gloucester from sure destruction, an’ I shan’t 
never forgit it. A big feller, Rob,” he continued in a tone 
from which all traces of feeling had departed; "an’ anchored 
fast in forty fathom. Git her on her course agin, Jabez; an’ as 
I don’t care about another tumble, I’ll let Rob go below until 
breakfast.” 

At noon they were in sight of the Magdalen Islands, seven 
in number, which lie nearly north-east of Prince Edward Island, 
and some fifty miles away, but the wind had veered to the 
south, and they slowly ran northward with scarcely speed 
enough for steerage-way, over a sea almost glassy in its utter 
smoothness. On all sides played seals and migrating birds, 
and the air was filled with weirdly sweet and plaintive love- 
notes, so differing from the ordinary calls of the various sea- 
fowl that even the accustomed ear finds a strange charm in 
their melancholy harmony. 

Bits of floe-ice were scattered here and there, affording 
resting-places for coot, gull, shelldrake, and eider; and on the 
eastern horizon, the lofty, many-colored cliffs of the Magdalens 
rose two hundred yards above the glassy billows at their feet; 
while, black and mysterious in its suggestive outlines, Dead- 
man’s Island, like a giant with his huge features and massive 
limbs composed upon the bier, called every eye to an admiring 
survey of the outlines seen against the fog-banks of the east¬ 
ern sky. 

These toward nightfall closed in upon the scene, much to 


BIRD ROCK. 


45 


the regret of Rob, who wished greatly to see the Bird Rock, 
which lies near the most northern islet of the group, and of 
whose wonderful bird colony he had heard strange stories by 
the fishermen. Skipper Clark was dissatisfied too, but for a 
different reason, for his course led him too near the Bird Rock 
to make a safe run in a foggy night. 

The wind, however, remained nearly calm until about two 
in the morning, when it veered to southeast and blew smartly, 
with a heavy rainfall which sensibly decreased the intensity 
of the fog, and though the squall was soon over and the 
weather instantly moderated, they made the Bird Rock close 
on the starboard bow just after sunrise. 

A huge and isolated rock, untenanted by man, it rose in 
places scores of feet above the waters of the Gulf, which even 
the calm weather they were experiencing dashed so furiously 
at the base of the cliffs that only in one or two places was a 
landing safe or even practicable. 

But its summit was literally white with feathered denizens; 
every cranny and crevice of its brown-red cliffs was the nest¬ 
ing or breeding place of one or more sea-fowl, while in the air 
above, around, and below its summit, myriads of birds, in a 
perfect maze of labyrinthine flight, soared and swooped, 
wheeled and screamed, until ear and eye were both weary of 
the unwonted sights and sounds. 

The great burgomaster gulte, and their smaller cousins 
down to the long-tailed and fairy-like tern, the heavy-winged 
shag, the rapacious cormorant, the mocking loon and quick¬ 
eyed grebe, with shelldrakes, black and golden-eyed ducks, 
and half a dozen representatives of the wading family, were 
noted by Cameron’s trained eye, and not less by the others, all 
more or less, by early training, close observers of the wild life 
around them, and generally skilled in the lore of the " bay- 
fowler” and " duck-shooter.” 


4 6 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


Skipper Clark took a long look at earth and sea and sky, 
and evidently was a little disposed to attempt a landing. ” ’Tis 
all of five years since I’ve seen the waves so still hereabouts, 
an’ I reckon we could gather a barrel or two of eggs ashore 
there, ’arly as it is. What d’ye think, Jabez?” 

w I’m agreed, an’ I’d like a chance or two at them coots 
an’ eiders wheelin’ close in to the landin’. Come, skipper; 
we can’t lose much time, an’ we can have fried eggs with our 
pork for the next week or ten days.” 

Clark nodded assent, and in a trice the foresail was low¬ 
ered, the vessel brought head to the wind, the jib hauled 
down and the main-boom eased off, until the w Racer,” motion¬ 
less except for the slight drift of some unseen current, lay 
gracefully rocking on the long undulations of the Gulf. 

Eight of the crew, headed by Jabez Strong and including 
Cameron and Rob, went ashore in two large dories; and 
making the landing one after the other, the light craft enabled 
their occupants to step ashore, after which one man in each 
pulled off from the dangerous surf, and pursued the sea-fowl at 
rest on the sea around the islet. 

The others, climbing up by a difficult series of broken 
ledges, came to the summit, and found themselves on the 
brink of a shallow, basin-like depression, filled with guano, 
and the feathers and remains of birds. On the surface of this 
indescribable accumulation of the filth of ages, every available 
foot was covered with the bodies, eggs, and nests of the breed¬ 
ing sea-fowl. 

The mother-birds, so wild by nature, by the strange influ¬ 
ence of the breeding instinct, scarcely moved from their places 
even when the heavy sea-boots of their unwelcome visitors 
cleared an open space in the vast rookery, and the men began 
hastily to fill their wooden buckets with the many-colored and 
strangely-marked eggs around them. 


FRESH EGGS. 


47 


For a while the scene was an exciting one as the disturbed 
birds, screaming and clapping their huge wings, rose into the 
air to hover heavily above the heads of the invaders, while at 
every report of the guns discharged at the sea-fowl about the 
islet, clouds of screaming murres, gulls, parroquets, and gan- 
nets rose into the air with a noise like the rush of a tempest or 
the sound of many waters. 

Rob, who had brought along a gun belonging to the cap¬ 
tain, could not bring himself to fire upon any of the denizens 
of the rookery, so strange was their tameness as compared 
with the shyness and vigilance shown by them at all other 
seasons and places. He accordingly contented himself with 
filling his pail w;ith eggs, and was about following the others 
down the cliff, when he heard the thrilling call of a gaggle of 
brent geese, bearing down across the summit of the rock, and 
almost lost at times amid the snowy pinions which obscured 
the sky above the islet. Setting down his frail treasures, he 
dropped behind a projection of the rock, cocked both barrels 
of his piece, and, as his comrades turned at his low cry of 
warning, watched the rapid approach of his victims. 

Some thirty or more in number, they swept over the rock 
toward him in their peculiar swift and irregular flight, passing 
and repassing each other like a pack of hounds in full cry, or 
a flock of wild pigeons stripping a beech-nut coppice. They 
passed so close above his head that he could note the finest 
markings of their jetty heads and creamy breasts; and as they 
pressed madly forward as they recognized the hated presence 
of man, he threw the heavy piece to his shoulder, and drew 
both barrels in rapid succession. 

Bang! bang! The first barrel tore a ghastly gap in the 
irregular but close-flying mass, as a battery mows down with 
grape a charging column, and half a dozen birds fell upon the 
sloping ledge at the foot of the rocks, or into the surf at the 


4 8 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


landing. The second, aimed at longer distance as the sur¬ 
vivors darted together in the smoke, added three more dead 
bodies to those below, and so sorely wounded the leading 
male that he fell dying near the vessel, and was picked up by 
one of the men left on board. 

A hearty cheer greeted Rob’s feat, and, recovering the 
birds, the party re-embarked, and the schooner was soon again 
under way for Greenland, while the cook got his big frying- 
pan ready for a grand supper of fried eggs. 

" Dese yar fellers,” he remarked, as he pointed to the brent; 
" we’ll hev stuff an’ roas’ fur de Sunday dinner. Dar’s no bet¬ 
ter bird on de coas’; an’ at Parker’s dem gemmen dat knows 
what, had rader hab ’em dan canvas-back, any day.” 

" They’m a queer bird,” said Strong to Cameron, who was 
preparing specimens of the other denizens of the rock; "an’ 
I’ve heerd folks say thet no one ever knew where they nested.” 

"That is so, I believe,” replied the naturalist; "that is, if 
we consider the brent found on the Pacific slope as a separate 
species; for on the eastern coast no nesting-place of the brent 
has been discovered, though the most successful Arctic dis¬ 
coverers, at the limits of their northward march, have seen their 
migrating hosts still holding their way toward the undiscovered 
pole.” 

"Then what do they feed on?” asked Strong, gravely. 
"I’ve killed a good few in my boyhood at Monomoy; I’ve shot 
them off Currituck and down here in the North Bay; ay, an’ 
kept them alive an’ tame for years at home. Now, I’ve never 
seen ’em eat anything alive or of the nater of flesh. What 
do they live on at the North Pole, onless thar’s open water an’ 
sea-weed growin’ thar? ” 

"I once knew an’ old Micmac,” said Cameron, "whose 
grandfather or great-grandfather was a great traveller for one 
of a people who seldom care or dare to go far from the limits 


BREEDING-PLACES OF WILD GEESE. 49 

of their own country. He, it seems, had been far toward the 
north, and when he returned to his people, told strange tales 
of the breeding-places of the brent geese. They frequented, 
he said, great swamps so soft and boggy that no man could 
enter them but at the certain peril of suffocation. He said, 
however, that when the early frosts came, many eggs and birds 
were taken by Indians, who entered the fens on snow-shoes, 
and who, if they tarried after sunrise, had to sit on a tussock 



BREEDING-GROUNDS OF THE WILD GEESE. 


or hammock until the night brought another frost-bridge for 
their escape. 

" But where do the wild geese breed?” asked Rob. "I 
mean the great Canada geese, such as we see going south 
every fall.” 

"Oh, they breed in every desolate pond and lake from here 
to Greenland,” said Cameron. " They used to breed in Nova 
Scotia, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island about a cen¬ 
tury ago, but the great inland swamps and ponds of New¬ 
foundland and Anticosti are now their southern limit.” 

" I’m sorry that we’ve had no time to lose at the Magdalens,” 
said Clark to Cameron. "They’re a great resort for all kinds 














50 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 


of fowl, an’ fish too. The people don’t shoot much, an’ you’re 
certain of good sport almost any time.” 

" The Acadian French were never great hunters, or war¬ 
riors either, and I’m told that many of the islanders are the 
descendants of men who escaped when the English forced 
their neighbors and relatives into exile. I’d like to go among 



EVANGELINE. 


them sometime, and see what stories they have to tell of th^ir 
treatment by the English.” 

" Well, Cameron, you’d find some very old people among 
’em; some of’em old enough to remember men who took part 
in the old French war,” said Strong; " for they’re seldom sick, 
an’ often live to a great age. Some on ’em, specially the 
women, wear the old dress sech as Longfellow tells about in 



















ACADIAN BELLES. 


51 


'Evangeline,’ but the pictures of the poem aren’t much like 
the real thing, I reckon. Ef they were, they wouldn’t be so 
pretty. 

" Ef you want to see the real thing, you should see a French 
breakdown at Tracadie, on the Brunswick coast. The gals 
come dressed as they did a hundred years ago, in blue woollen 
shirts an’ short jackets of homespun, with a little black shawl 
folded across the breast,” said Clark. " Then their ha’r is 
covered with a little cotton night-cap with a squar’ hole that 
the braids pass through an’ hang down behind. They’re 
good, honest, quiet folks though, an’ deserved better usage 
than they had of the English.” 

" I have a picture of Evangeline at home,” said Rob, " and 
I’ve read the story a dozen times; but I suppose I should be 
disappointed if I saw some real Acadians ” 

" I didn’t see any wrecks as we came up the coast, skip¬ 
per. I thought it was a great place for them,” remarked 
Cameron. 

"Well, I reckon the hull east coast is lined with them,” 
replied the captain, quietly. " I don’t want to see a much 
more lonely an’ unpleasant sight than some of those long, 
sandy reaches of beach an’ withered limbs, where the sea- 
sands hev drifted up the forest, an’ the whitened ribs of stanch 
schooners lie half buried where they drove ashore.” 

" I suppose you’ve seen some wrecks there yourself, skip¬ 
per?” 

"Yes, sir; I lay inside Entry Island once, with sixteen 
others, with a heavy gale goin’ on outside thet made us worry 
about our holding-gear inside, an’ left the bar frothing white 
from pint to pint; an’ in the afternoon they brought us news 
thet a fisherman was trying to keep off shore, an’ running for 
the harbor. We could see her from the mast-heads; but we 


5 2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


got out dories an’ whale-boats, an’ rowed over to the outer 
beach. We could see clear up the shore, an’ for miles out the 
rollers broke on the out-lyin’ sand-bars, an’ the schooner was 
tryin’ to claw off under a double-reefed mainsail an’ jib. Her 
cap’n was a trump, an’ made the prettiest fight for his life I 
ever saw, an’ his vessel did all thet could be expected of wood 
an’ iron. She’d rush through the foam like mad until a big 
wave would strike her bow, an’ knock her off to leeward, an’ 
then she’d bury her lee-rail out o’ sight, an’ eat straight into 



A WRECK. 


the wind an’ sea. Again an’ again she got by pints where no 
one thought she could fetch by, an’ at last I did begin to think 
she might git a chance to jump the bar, after all. But jest as 
she was a’most by the last bar, she struck, an’ the next sea left 
nothin’, alive or dead, standin’ above her decks. There were 
over twenty vessels ashore when the gale was over, but I 
never felt so bad for a vessel an’ crew as I did for her, she was 
handled so prettily.” 

That night they ran again into broken ice, and with some 
difficulty, three days later, reached the coast of Labrador, 
the first land made being Whale Head, in the entrance 
















LABRADOR. 


S3 


of the Straits of Belle Isle. Here they took shelter for the 
night in a small but secure harbor, a mere pool in extent, 
but deep enough for the largest man-of-war ever launched. 
Half a dozen cabins and fishing-stages lined the snow-covered 
shore, and across the dreary wastes, from the distant coppices, 
came several sledges drawn by dogs and laden with firewood. 

Clark had a dory put out alongside, and allowed Rob and 
Cameron to go ashore with him, taking, as gifts to the chief 
w planter” of the hamlet, some tea, sugar, and a few canned 
vegetables. As they landed, they were met by several men, 
clad in fur caps, heavy woollens, and seal-skin boots, who 
greeted them with rough but kindly hospitality, and invited 
them to their rude dwellings. A youth of about Rob’s age 
invited him to ride on his taboggin , or Indian sledge, — a 
long, thin board turned up at the forward end and drawn by 
four wolfish-looking dogs. Rob eagerly accepted the invita¬ 
tion, and seated himself on the forward part of the sledge, 
while his companion, kneeling behind him, uttered a shrill 
whoop, and cracked his short-handled, long-lashed whip about 
the ears of his team, which, with great plunging'bounds, 
whirled the light sled over the hard-packed snow-drifts. 
Though the pace was terrific, and sundry hummocks and 
boulders presented their dangers here and there, all would 
doubtless have gone well had not a large hare broke cover 
just as they passed some low furze bushes. The yelpings of 
the belabored pack in an instant became savage howlings; the 
excited dogs heeded neither whip nor the voice of their angry 
master, and in less than two moments the sledge was capsized, 
and the traces becoming involved, Rob found himself buried 
in the snow, and beneath four snapping, growling, fighting 
brutes. 

He was soon rescued, however, by his companion, who, 
fairly livid with rage, seized the largest and most quarrelsome 


54 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

of his team by the neck, and, despite its size, fairly held it 
suspended at arm’s length while he gave it a terrible lashing 
with his native whip of chewed walrus-hide. Rob scrambled 



ROB’S MISHAP. 


to his feet, and begged the lad to spare the poor beast further 
punishment, but with difficulty succeeded. 

w Dis is de time to cure ’em of such tricks, an’ den maybe, 
in de dead of winter, dey’ll not leave you to freeze to death 
far off from de tilts.” 








ESQUIMAU DOGS. 


55 


" Surely they love you too well to leave you in that way 
except for a few minutes? ” said Rob, thinking of good, faithful, 
kindly Rover, the big Newfoundlander at home. 

c ' Love me! Dey’d tear de heart out of me dis minute if 
dey dared, an’ eat me into de bargain ef dey was hungry 
enough. Not but dere’s one dat’s better than de rest,” he 
added, his voice softening a little. Old Billy dere is part 
Newfoundland, an’ sleeps at de foot of my berth every night, 
but we daren’t let the ^ 

childer play wid him for 
deir very lives.” 

" But why don’t you 
get better dogs? I should 
think you could get a 
plenty of Newfoundland¬ 
ers here,” said Rob. 

"Better dogs!” replied 
John Deagle, for such 
was the boy’s name. 
w Ayther of dem will face 
a wolf, an’ any two of 
dem a bear. But jump 
on again, an’ we’ll soon 
get down to de tilts.” ^ 

Rob would gladly have chosen to walk the remaining dis¬ 
tance, but he resolved not to show the white feather, or pain 
his companion by a refusal, and without further accident they 
drew up beside the rude dwellings, termed by his companion, 
in the strange dialect of the Labrador coast, " de tilts.” 

These dwellings of the Labrador ”planters” (who live in 
too cold a climate to literally deserve their name) he found to 
be houses built of logs placed upright in line with the four 
corner-posts, with their butts buried in the earth, and wedged 



AN ESQUIMAU DOG. 







some wrecked vessel, and a chimney of rough stone laid in 
clay mortar, were curiously eyed by Rob as John loosed his 
dogs, who at once rushed down to the shore of the harbor to 
gorge themselves on the skinless carcasses of a number of 
seals lately slain by the planters. 

The whole scene was wild and desolate, and the landscape 
almost arctic in its aspect, although May was nearly past; and 
the fading light, as the sun began slowly to sink behind the 


A LABRADOR VILLAGE. 


g6 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


tight by the insertion of long, tapering planks, driven down 
with blows of the maul. The roof was boarded and shingled, 
the eaves were nearly reached by the bank of rocks, moss, and 
earth thrown up against the walls as an additional protection 
against the cold. 

A narrow door and several small windows, evidently from 









LABRADOR DWELLINGS. 


57 


western cliffs, added to the stern, chilling effect of this little 
habitable nook in the iron-bound, inhospitable coast which 
stretches for many a score of miles between the Mingan Islets 
and Blanc Sablon. 

Several heavy clubs and long sealing-guns leaned against 
the walls of the houses; the first stained with the blood and 
woolly hair of young seals, the latter bearing, around hammer 
and tube, the powder-smut of the day’s firing; and at the land¬ 
ing, by their stranded " dingies,” one or two rangers of the ice 
were unloading the "sculps” or blubber-laden skins taken 
during the day. 

By this time the other men came up, and the elder Deagle, 
opening the door of his hut, beckoned to the captain and Rob 
to follow. " It’s but little of a place, sur,” he said, apologeti¬ 
cally; "but you’re welcome to de warmest corner of de hearth, 
an’ de best we can give ye.” 

The interior presented but a single large room, with bare 
rafters above a light, scantily-floored loft; the farther end from 
the door being almost wholly occupied by a large fireplace, in 
which several huge pieces of oak, evidently once part of some 
noble vessel, glowed with a fierce red, flecked here and there 
with lambent tongues of green and blue flame where a copper- 
nail or corroded bolt had been extracted. 

Everywhere the tribute claimed by the wrecker was visi¬ 
ble. The sleeping-places were berths, the panelling in dark 
and highly-finished woods, the chairs, all odd ones, from the 
plush-covered spoils of a steamer’s saloon, to the cheap painted 
furniture of some luckless coaster. A ship’s clock ticked 
against the wall, the dishes rested in the peculiar racks which 
once had furnished some steward’s pantry, and a large table in 
the centre of the floor had evidently formed the centre of 
attraction in the cabin of some huge packet. On it smoked 
the hearty evening meal of the family, a huge platter with 


5 « 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


four roasted wild geese thereon forming the central dish, and 
supported on either hand by a cube of boiled salt pork, and 
a tin pan of potatoes. A large tin of ship’s biscuit, strong 
black tea, poured into tin cups and sweetened with Porto 
Rico molasses, completed the rude but plenteous repast. 

Deagle, as he seated himself, caught the captain’s eye as he 
quickly surveyed the apartment, and seemed to read his 
thoughts. "You may think dat we’re much like wreckers 
here, an’ it’s true dat dere’s little we have but is given us by 
de say. We’re no pirates, though, captain; for in twenty years 
I’ve nivir known de s’ason dat dere wasn’t a wreck within a 
day’s sail of here.” 

"An’ no wonder,” said Clark, heartily; "for you’ve hun¬ 
dreds of vessels fishing here in the summer, besides the 
steamers an’ ships going to an’ from Quebec through the 
Straits. The only wonder to me is that there isn’t more men 
an’ craft lost on this coast.” 

" Dere’s enough as it is,” said Deagle, gravely. " Dere’s 
skursely a bay or islan’ dat I know of but has seen de death of 
some poor sailor dat has escaped the say to die of cowld an’ 
hunger on shore. ’Tis a hard ting to sink in de salt say, but 
dere’s a many in owld times dat had better died in de breakers 
than to have found demselves alive on de dissolate cliffs.” 

" There, man, don’t scare the boy wid such sad words,” 
broke in the tall, strong helpmeet of Rob’s host. " Come, my 
little man, sit down by my Johnnie dere, an’ tell him of de 
great world he has nivir seen, poor boy; an’ after supper ye 
can make up some sport for the morn, for there’s an easterly 
storm brewin’, an’ the schooner’ll lay here for a day or two.” 

" Dat’s so, sur,” laughed Deagle, as he saw Clark’s incredu¬ 
lous look. "Molly D’agle’s as good a judge o’ weather signs 
as e’er a man on de coast. So set in, sir; set in an’ finish your 
supper, an’ we’ll spend the avenin’ over a bottle of right French 



[ 59 ] 






























































































































6 o 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


brandy dat nivir paid duty. For why? De vessel dat brought 
it across de ocean was t’rown away in a fog on Meccatina.” 

Their supper ended, Rob, with John and his younger sis¬ 
ters, got together on the great settle by the fire, and his half 
savage listeners wondered and longed to see the strange fruits 
and flowers of Cape Ann, which, rugged and barren as it is 
deemed, seemed a tropical paradise full of strange delights 
to these youthful dwellers in "the desolate land.” 

His stories of the tamer sports of civilized youth, however, 
excited little interest even with the girls, who much preferred 
dog-driving, boating, and even hunting, to croquet, while he 
himself, as he thought of the broken and rocky landscape he 
had surveyed, confessed to himself that neither croquet nor 
base-ball could ever become popular in Labrador. 

He soon found himself, therefore, eagerly examining John¬ 
nie’s hunting equipments, carefully hung up on pegs driven 
into the log walls. These consisted of a long-barrelled single 
ducking-gun, with shot-belts, flasks, knife, and belt; a light 
tomahawk, with leather casing; a jointed trout-rod, and several 
fishing-spears and sealing-clubs. 

"We’ve left our winter-house only a month since,”said the 
young hunter; "an’ some of our traps are still between it an’ 
dis harbor. I’d like you to see our traps; an’ if de skipper’ll 
let you stay all night, we’ll take de dogs, an’ perhaps have a 
fine day’s sport.” 

Then he went on to tell of the martens, otters, and foxes he 
had taken that winter; of whole families of muskrats slain in 
the inner swamps; of long and sometimes successful shots at 
the black bears as they sought for carrion in the land-wash, 
and wild geese killed over seaweed decoys in the first open 
pools of the haven. 

Long before the evening was past, however, the east wind 
had swept inshore an impenetrable fog-bank, and Captain 


6 r 


PREPARING FOR A DAY ? S SPORT. 

Clark had been easily induced to leave Rob overnight with 
their hospitable entertainers. 



BEAVERS BUILDING A DAM. 

The next day, while stormy enough outside, was rather windy 
than wet, a fine drizzle taking the place of rain; and breakfast 
over, Johnnie got out his team, and arming Rob with his own 































62 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


weapons, borrowed his father’s huge " sealing-gun,” a single- 
barrelled piece of gigantic dimensions and weight. Having 
prepared a number of small pieces of seal-flesh for bait, he 
cracked his whip, and his dogs were soon skurrying inland at 
a good ten-mile gait, following a narrow and flattened depress 
sion in the drifts that told of the passage of many sledges over 
the narrow course. 

In less than an hour they entered a wooded valley, through 
which ran a trout stream, or rather succession of deep pools 
connected by diminutive cascades. Here Johnnie visited sev¬ 
eral steel traps set between the pools, and took from his strong 
double-springed traps a large otter and a mink, which, though 
not in full winter fur, were still valuable skins. Entering the 
coppice, they came upon a footpath deeply trodden in the level 
snow, and following this they inspected, at every twenty or 
thirty yards, rude " figure-of-four ” traps, intended to crush 
with the weight of a log any animal which should meddle with 
the bait attached to the trigger of the trap. 

The third trap examined held a fine sable, but the next 
had been sprung by some animal wily enough to spring the 
trap before eating the bait. ".Now we’ll have trouble,” said 
Johnnie, sorrowfully. " Here’s another fisher been at de 
traps.” 

"He’s a mighty mean man,” began Rob, warmly; but 
Johnnie began to laugh until he was nearly choked, and then 
explained that the " fisher ” was only another term for the 
American marten, which sometimes, when old and wily, would 
unbait a dozen traps without being captured. "I’ve got a 
double trap a little furder on,” he continued; "an’ if he med¬ 
dles with dat, I’ve got him sure.” 

At a turn in the path they found, sure enough, the body of 
the delinquent crushed by the second dead fall, whose mechan¬ 
ism his limited brain had been unable to detect, although he 


SHOOTING A LYNX. 


63 


had shown himself too sagacious for the simpler combination. 
Rebaiting the traps as they proceeded, they reached the end 
of the line without further spoil, and, turning their faces home¬ 
ward, had nearly reached the valley where the dogs were 
tethered, when Johnnie, who led in advance, suddenly stopped 
short, threw up his gun as if to fire, and then, in considerable 
agitation, turned to his companion. 



AMERICAN “FISHER” (MARTEN). 


"Dere, Rob! here’s a chance for you to kill a lucifee (lynx) 
up in yonder tree. It’s not likely you’ll iver have another 
chance; but don’t miss him, or we might get scratched. Come 
here now, quick, an’ take him between de eyes.” 

Rob, in some perturbation, cocked his gun, and, peering 
carefully through the bushes, saw, drawn up in the top of a 
small spruce, an animal not heavier than a large terrier dog, 
but longer of body and limb. It was white below and gray 
above; its erectile ears and short tail were tipped with jetty 
black, and its bright, fierce eyes were fixed upon the hunters 
with intense ferocity. 




6 4 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


Rob took a quick aim, firing just as the muzzle of his gun 
came to the level of the glaring eyes. The heavy report rang 
out through the desolate valleys, and distant echoes repeated it 
again and again, but the lynx only settled sickeningly back in 
its fatal retreat, and then, with the last expiring effort of native 
ferocity, sprang aimlessly toward the spot from whence the 
death-shot had parted. 

When the boys reached the spot, the long, lithe body lay 
limp and motionless, and a little pool of blood crimsoning the 
snow beside the lifeless head told that Rob’s shot had been 
surely aimed, and, what is of great 
moment to the hunter, that the val¬ 
uable fur had escaped injury. 

" Ould Arkaske, the Mountainee 
[Montagnais], couldn’t have done 
better, an’ I’ve known him let a black 
fox go by because he’d have cut it to 
pieces,” said Johnnie, quite warmly. 
"We’ll take de body home, and let feyther skin it, for it’s 
worth a good five dollars if it’s worth a penny, an’ ’ll make 
your sister a splendid cape.” 

" But you mustn’t give it to me,” said Rob, earnestly. " It 
was very kind in you to let me shoot, and I’ll never forget it. 
But the skin is yours, and when the traders come, you can get 
powder, lead, and caps, and maybe some traps for next winter.” 

Thus the two joined in friendly dispute on the road home; 
but on arriving there, the case was referred to the warm¬ 
hearted parents and Captain Clark, who, despairing of further 
progress at present, had come ashore to spend a second 
evening. 

Deagle insisted, however, that " the boy ” should have the 
skin, and as Clark had a small stock of powder for trading pur¬ 
poses, Johnnie lost nothing by his liberality in the exchange. 



a Newfoundlander’s experiences. 


65 


CHAPTER VI. 

a Newfoundlander’s experiences. — the bceothics, or 

RED INDIANS.-WAR TO THE KNIFE.-THE DEER FENCES 

OF THE EXPLOITS RIVER.-DESERTED TRADING-POSTS. 

— THROUGH THE STRAITS OF BELLE ISLE.-WHALERS 

IN THE ICE. 

jJllfe - /ITH nightfall the storm increased in 

fury; and the neighbors, as they saun¬ 
tered in, told of rough weather outside, 
and of heavy fields of ice sweeping 
along the surf-beaten cliffs in the treach¬ 
erous mists and driving rain and sleet. 

The conversation finally turned upon 
the personal experiences of members of 
the part) 7 , and John Deagle, after many 
shame-faced denials, was finally pre¬ 
vailed upon to tell of his early youth in 
Newfoundland, a place still so little 
known, and so little blessed by civiliza¬ 
tion, that we feel disposed to give a few 
extracts from his curious experience. 

"As ye see, sir, by my English, I’m a 
native of Newfoundland; born there in 
1816, a good fifty an’ four years ago. My father —an’ he’s 
livin’ there yet—settled at Notre Dame Bay, on the east coast, 
an’ partly by farmin’, but mostly by fishin’ an’ trappin’, brought 
up nine children, — six boys an’ three girls. 

5 






66 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD, 


De coast from Cape St. John roun’ to Cape Ray is wild 
enough now, an’ indeed, but for de bishop’s ship an’ de priest 
from Quebec oncet a year, we’d have nayther blessin’s on de 
weddin’ or prayers beside the dead; but in de times I spake 
of, de king’s ship was de only ting like law, an’ we held our 
lives an’ goods by de sealing-gun an’ de log walls of our tilts. 

" Just afore I was born, my father had to watch iv’ry day 
in de summer s’ason for fear of de Yankee privateers dat left 
scarcely a hamlet on de coast unvisited in de last war; an’ 
when p’ace came, de Red Indians were left to stale all they 
could lay their han’s on, an’ to kill iv’ry one dat fell into deir 
power. 

"Dere wasn’t many left, I dare say; but they were like 
wolves, game to de last, an’ came down de River of Explites 
every summer to rob an’ slay; an’ when de winter came, our 
hunters went up wid snow-shoe, sledge, an’ gun, to trap furs 
an’ revenge de summer’s losses. Sometimes such min as Bill 
Cull an’ de like would venture up in canoes in de fall; but it 
was seldom done but some one fell dead or wounded by de 
Indian arrow. I’ve heerd dem say dat when all was still an’ 
lovely, de river smooth as glass, de birds singing, de trout 
Taping, an’ de min half asleep, dat an Indian would jest step 
out from de woods, leL fly an arrow, an’ be out of sight before 
any one could reach his gun. 

" But for all dat, dey loved to go; an’ at the first dey found 
at de river’s head great store-houses of furs an’ deer m’ate, 
packed away for de winter, near de great fences dey made to 
catch de deer, for dey go north in de spring an’ south iv’ry 
fall, crossing de great river. So on both side de Explites dey 
made long fences of trees, roots, an’ brush for thirty miles up 
an’ down de river, breaking jints so dat a deer passin’ t’rough 
an’ openin’ to de river had to swim slantwise to reach anoder 
on de oder side; an’ de Indians in deir canoes ginerally broke 


THE RED INDIANS 


67 



de animal’s back in de water, an’ left him to swim ashore, for 
dey knew as soon as he touched bottom dat he’d be paralized 
intirely.” 

" Why were they called 
Red Indians?” asked 
Rob, as the planter 
paused in his nar¬ 
ration. 

"Why, dey 
seemed to paint 
or dye iv’ryting 
about dem red, 
sonnie. Dey 
covered deir 
bodies wid red 
ochre, dey dyed 
deir hair with 
de juice of ber¬ 
ries, an’ even de 
canoes, arrows, 
spears, and clubs 
were all of de 
same color. I’ve 
heerd de ould 
min say dat dey 
believed dat 
God set a circle 
of arrows in de 
ground, and from dem made de first of deir tribe; an I sup¬ 
pose dat dey t’ought demselves warriors from de very begin¬ 
ning of deir race.” 

"I s’pose there’s none of them left?” said Skipper Clark, 
inquiringly. 


AMBUSHED BY INDIANS. 









68 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


" So ’tis said at St. John; an’ I’ve not known of any being 
seen for certain for forty year almost. But dey couldn’t have 
starved, for de deer can be seen on de hills in such droves dat 
deir horns look like a forest; an’ so it has always been iver 
since I remember. De small-pox may have got among dem 
in some stolen stuff, an’ finished ’em all; but it’s a big country 
from say to say, an’ few min have ever crossed it. More’s the 
pity; for ’tis a beautiful land of big lakes, lofty cliffs, an’ 
wooded valleys; at laste, so de few dat have seen dem all say.” 

" Then you believe that some of those same Red Indians 
are still left in the interior?” began Cameron. 

" I’m sure dere were some of ’em alive in * ’42,’ for I heerd 
de ould Indians here tell of meetin’ a party of dem here in de 
Labrador; an’ though de Mountaineers always traded wid dem 
in de ould times, dey were frightened enough when some of 
dem crossed de Straits an’ came up de coast. Poor fellows! 
De} 7 found plenty of white people here too, an’ must have 
gone back to live or die far away from de coast.” 

"Do you ever have any trouble with bears or wolves?” 
asked Clark. 

"Bears trouble us little, for dey don’t care to have our 
dogs barkin’ an’ snappin’ at deir heels, an’ we have no sheep 
or cattle for dem to carry off; but de white bear gets down dis 
far on de ice sometimes, an’ den we have to turn out an’ hunt 
him down. But de great gray wolf is de most dangerous beast 
we have; for in de winter dey gather in packs, an’ more’n one 
lonely hunter — ay, an’ at times whole families — have been 
’aten up by dem. But dey’re scarcer than dey were, an’ of 
late y’ars we’ve seen little of dem even in de winter.” 

" It appears to me,” said Cameron, " that the storm is nearly 
over. It’s nearly midnight by my watch, and we’d better be 
getting down to the vessel.” 

Captain Deagle strode to the door and flung it wide open, 


MIDNIGHT IN LABRADOR 









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































70 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

peering earnestly into the night. The storm was breaking 
evidently, the rain no longer fell, the broken clouds were 
scudding rapidly northward, and inland a luminous radiance 
seemed to gleam through the flying scud. 

" In half a glass ’twill be as clear overhead as in a dry 
nor’wester, an’ you’ll have a fair wind by daylight for your 
run t’rough de Straits. Take half a dozen bottles of the brandy 
wi’ you, an’ the by’s furs; an’ if so be you can spare half a 
barrel of potatoes for us, leave them ashore before you sail. 
Here’s our last glass, gentlemen, and a sailor’s toast: ? A full 
hold and a fair breeze.’ ” 

Half an hour later the visitors were awaiting their boats 
down by the half frozen beach, where a rude fishing-stage or 
two loomed dimly through the midnight darkness. Suddenly 
the last clouds were swept from the horizon, and a vast arch 
of tremulous, throbbing, lambent light tipped the snow-covered 
heights inland. Swiftly it broadened, rising toward the zenith, 
deepening in color, and growing more exact in outline, until, 
like the flat blade of an ancient Toledo, it lay a bar of bur¬ 
nished, red-hot steel across the starry heavens. This in turn 
became broader and less distinct, its borders shooting out lam¬ 
bent flames of green, orange, purple-blue, and crimson, until, 
covering the whole centre of the firmament, it became a lumi¬ 
nous, silvery-white canopy, by whose soft, weird radiance the 
adventurers rowed on board the w Racer.” 

Ere daylight the wind was raging like a demon from the 
cold north-west, but lulled at sunrise; and Clark set sail after 
breakfast, confident that he should have a quick run through 
the Straits. In this they were not disappointed; and although 
Rob would fain have seen some of the wonders of the shores 
and havens by which they sailed, he was forced to be content 
with his friend Cameron’s description of the places by which 
they passed. 


THE STRAITS OF BELLE ISLE. 


71 


Still, the navigation was not without its dangers for the first 
two days, for the storm had sent many icebergs through the 
Straits, and a narrow belt of from one to four miles in width 
was all the water which lay open to the fleet w Racer ” as she 
skirted the coast. 

Past Blanc Sablon, where the terraced hills show one above 
the other the ancient beaches left ages ago by the receding 
sea; past the lonely light-house and rocky promontory of For- 
leau Bay, and the shimmering veil of the "Cliff Cascade,” 
doubly beautiful from the tributes of the melting snow-drifts 
around it, — they made fhe huge cliffs of Henly Harbor, and, 
running in under the basaltic ramparts of Chateau Island, 
dropped anchor in a safe anchorage shut in by huge walls of 
denuded rock. 

Here they found a few fishing-stages, and a sealing schooner 
or two from the Newfoundland coast, all busily engaged in 
getting ready for a threatened easterly blow; of which, by the 
way, Clark averred he could discern no possible indication 
except some little variation in the barometer. 

Come it did, however, preceded by a thick fog, which came 
driving in before a heavy squall, tossing and whirling over and 
over like the sand cumuli of a Saharan simoom; and for two 
days they awaited, perforce, the pacification of the elements. 

Rob, however, enjoyed this delay greatly, visiting, in com¬ 
pany with Cameron, the objects of interest in Chateau Bay. 
Together they ascended the heights of the " castle,” whose 
walls, two hundred feet in height, are composed of columns of 
black basalt in regular five-sided crystals, like those of the 
celebrated Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. Near its base were 
two isolated sand-stone blocks, famous along the coast as being 
wonderful profile likenesses of the human form when seen 
against the clear sky. One seemingly kneels with his face 
bowed toward the east, as if awaiting before a low altar the 


72 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


rising of' the sun or the coming of some destined deliverer. 
The other, like a robed stoic, turns his face from the other’s 
hope and the changeful sea, to the grim bare strength of the 
eternal cliffs. 

" Many and strange are the tales that these could tell,” said 
Cameron, dreamily, as they sat down to gaze on these remark¬ 
able boulders; "and many the races whose wandering keels 
have been greeted by the strong orbs of yonder kneeling mys¬ 
tery. Here the adventurous Northman must have harbored 
eight hundred years ago; and perhaps, while his long, shield- 
belted galley rested in yonder haven, carved in deep-cut 
runes the story of his achievements and discoveries, long 
since erased by r,ain and frost. Here the Esquimau, once 
lord of all the coast to the Bay of Fundy, made his last futile 
stand against the savage Montagnais and the still more fero¬ 
cious and adventurous Micmacs, who, less than three hundred 
years since, feared not to come in their birch canoes even so 
far as this in search of spoil and glory; and Abenaquis chiefs 
may well have laid upon these wondrous stones their war 
sacrifices of warm blood and palpitating human flesh. 

" Here, less than a century ago, stood a large English 
trading-post, where the tribes of the Montagnais, Nasquapees, 
and the hordes of the Southern Esquimaux met on a basis of 
transient peace in the interests of trade. Here Peter Cart¬ 
wright, Indian trader, sportsman, and diarist, completed three 
huge volumes, the most faithful and complete of the few 
volumes on Labradorian history and the peculiar trading 
system which so long controlled this coast. Here, in 1765, a 
fort and blockhouse were built, and garrisoned by an English 
officer with twenty men, to protect the post, which in 1778 
was attacked by the American privateer ' Minerva,’ whose 
booty amounted in value to over three hundred thousand dol¬ 
lars. A few years later, Noble Pinson, Cartwright’s partner 


THE STRAITS OF BELLE ISLE. 


73 



and successor, who had a settlement of fifty houses and ten 
fishing 'rooms/ was attacked by a French squadron, which 
was at first badly 
damaged by a bat¬ 
tery on Chateau 
Island; but their 
ammunition fail¬ 
ing, the English 
burned their vil¬ 
lage and Retreated 
into the interior.” 

" But did the 
French have a set- 
tlement here?” 
asked Rob. 

Cameron led 
the way to a grav¬ 
elly bluff*, and si¬ 
lently walked 
across a broken 
stone bridge into 
a stone-work for¬ 
tress ninety feet 
square, with strong 
bastions at each 
angle, and further 
defended by a 

fosse and two ENGLISH fort and blockhouse, 1765. 

lines of outer earth-works, once evidently furnished with 
stockades. Within the terre-pleine were the foundations of a 
roomy barrack and the walls of a strong magazine, and by the 
covered way the shattered ruins of a large blockhouse were 
still standing. 



















74 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORE Do 

” Here, early in the eighteenth century,” said Cameron, 
” stood the town of Brest, a summer city whose founders 
fondly hoped to make their village a second Louisburg. A 
thousand permanent settlers are said to have dwelt here, and 
in the fishing season hundreds of craft and thousands of sea¬ 
men resorted thither; but of the causes of its decline and the 
consummation of its ruin, no account is left us, although scarce 
six-score years have passed since the French flag floated over 
these massive bastions.” 

Descending the hill and entering the settlement, they heard 
far inland the guns of their comrades as they shot at the ducks, 
geese, and wading-birds which frequent in thousands the huge 
marshes of Chateau Bay. 

"We shall have plenty of chances for sport hereafter,” said 
Cameron. ” Let us prepare for colder weather and greater 
hardships.” 

At the larger of the trading-houses he chose, from amid a 
large variety of Indian and Esquimaux commodities, two pairs 
of long moccasin boots of softly-dressed seal-skin, with the 
beautifully mottled hair outside, and straps which at each hip 
affixed them to the waist-belt. The feet were of walrus- 
leather chewed soft by the native women, and the whole 
sewed by hand with sinew-thread, forming a light but warm 
and perfectly water-proof foot-covering. 

Some coats of seal-skin, lined with a thick, gray pilot-cloth, 
next attracted his attention; and choosing two, he fitted Rob 
with one, and a pair of the Esquimaux boots. He also pur¬ 
chased two pairs of” crampets,” or spiked irons, to be strapped 
under the instep, which give a sure footing on the most slip¬ 
pery ice. Taking out his pocket-book, he paid the bill, which 
for the articles seemed astonishingly small to Rob, aggregat¬ 
ing as it did only about twenty-five dollars. 

” But, Mr. Cameron,” faltered Rob, as they came out to- 


A COLD-WEATHER OUTFIT. 


75 


gether, " Fve no money to pay you for my coat and boots, and 
it isn't right for me to take them as a present.” 

" Don’t mind that now, Rob,” said Cameron, laughing. " I 
can’t spend a great deal before we get back from our cruise, 
and your share will surely be large enough to enable you to 
pay for things so necessary as you will find these purchases 
when we are once in the ice.” 

When Skipper Clark and the rest of the men came back 
at night, they all agreed in praising the new purchases, and 
before sailing most had secured a coat, and all of them the 
long, light moccasin boots so much warmer and comfortable 
than their clumsy leather and rubber ones; and indeed, when 
once they had proved and softened them by wading over-knee 
in snow-water and the soft mud of the marshes, their heavy 
foot-gear was laid aside for the more comfortable native 
article. 

Again the weather grew warm and pleasant; and the 
w Racer,” slipping out of the Straits, ran northward up the 
coast, not without much anxiety on the part of her captain, 
who found himself in a smooth but narrow belt of open water, 
bounded by a heavy belt of floating ice, kept near the Ameri¬ 
can coast by the prevailing easterly storms. As long as this 
belt widened, nothing could be safer, for the sea, ordinarily 
most appalling on the Atlantic coast-line of Labrador, was 
so preternaturally calm that old Gunnison shook his head 
ominously, and declared it to be "parfickly onnateral;” and, 
having once passed Hamilton Inlet, and the wind shifting to 
south-east, Clark ordered the schooner on an easy bow-line, 
and ran for the shelter of the pack. 

They made it just before sunset, the sea strangely smooth, 
though the vessel was running gunwale under, and it was 
evidently nearly time to reef; but Clark found himself with the 


7 6 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

floes advancing rapidly on the starboard bow, while aboard 
and to leeward the ice was heavier and more open. 

"We must drive her deep in afore the fog catches us,” 
said old Gunnison, quickly. "An’ ef I might be so bold, I’d 
set the square-s’ls, an’ git her berthed afore dark; fer ef we 
don’t hev a howler by mornin’, I’m a marine.” 

Without loss of time the sails were set, and heading for 
the centre of the cul-de-sac or embaying ice, the w Racer ” 
swept into a narrow level of open water, bordered on one side 
by the main floe, and on the other by such larger bergs as the 
force of the wind had driven more swiftly to leeward. For a 
moment the sun broke through the whirling scud to leeward, 
casting its red glare on castellated berg and fantastic pinnacle; 
then the clouds settled down, the fog began to thicken, and 
Clark, seeing from his stand in the fore-rigging a small field 
of broken and thin ice and " sludge ” or wet snow, waved his 
hand to Jabez Strong to head the swift schooner for this 
weaker part of the ice-field. 

Two short minutes later a confused sound of breaking and 
crushed ice under the bows, and several pretty heavy thumps 
from unseen hummocks, told that the ” Racer ” was boldly 
entering the floe; and as the gale broke more heavily, she 
pressed on, though but slowly, into the heavier masses, which, 
pushed aside by the wedge-like bows driven by the powerful 
press of sail, slowly yielded, and allowed the little vessel to 
imbed herself in the pack. At last, however, the " Racer” 
stopped short, and the crew, getting out fenders, took in sail, 
and, by means of ice-anchors and hawsers, moored her in a 
tiny pool between two water-washed bergs. 

That night, as the crew gathered in the warm, dry, well- 
lighted cabin, the conversation turned on arctic dangers and 
the fate of the Behring Straits whalers, who too often find 
themselves hopelessly embayed in the drifting ice. 






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































7 8 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


"It isn’t like the drift on this side,” said Johnson, a tall 
Swede; "for once fast in the pack here, we go southward to 
warmer waters and longer days. But when a whaler is fast 
beyond Behring Straits, her crew must abandon her, or drift 
with her into the arctic night to perish by scurvy, cold, and 
hunger.” 

"I’ve heerd,” said Gunnison, "thet no vessel hez ever yet 
been recovered thet was caught for the winter north of the 
Straits, an’ thet no man thet ever stayed by a ship all winter 
was ever seen again.” 

"That isn’t so,” replied Johnson, quietly; "for when I first 
came to this country, I shipped in a whaler, and was jammed 
in the ice inside of Point Belcher about the last of August, 
and after two or three days’ hard work we managed to work 
south far enough to make the land and get into open water. 
Another vessel hailing from San Francisco was in company, 
but her captain was willing to drift about, hoping for a change 
in the ice; and his Kanakas and Portuguese, when we visited 
them for the last time, laughed at us for pulling and hauling in 
sleet and cold, and wearing out our planking against the ice, 
when we could take it easy below until the pack should open 
again, and give us an easy path to the open sea. 

"We never heard of them again,” continued Johnson; "but 
somewhere in the ice-field, unless she sank, there is a ship with 
sails furled and decks awned over from the snow, — with the 
boats at her davits, and her bulwarks level with the mighty 
drifts whose crust bears no mark of human footsteps, nor will 
again until the resurrection.” 

"But how did you git clear?” cried Jabez Strong, impa¬ 
tiently. 

"We found the shore bordered by a belt of open water, or 
rather water covered only by thin new ice, through which we 
gradually worked our way towards Cape Belcher; but as ill- 


AMONG THE ICEBERGS 


79 


luck would have it, a storm set in, and the floe jammed in 
upon us, and left us almost high and dry on a ledge about fifty 
miles east of the 
Cape. We might 
have got clear off 
in our boats even 
then, but the cap¬ 
tain, hoping to 
save his vessel, 
set us to discharg¬ 
ing cargo, and we 
hoisted out near 
fifteen hundred 
barrels of oil, and 
got the old barky 
off the ledge and 
into deep water, 
but by that time 
the ice was five 
inches thick and 
winter upon us.” 

"Ah! ’twas 
too late then for 
a boat journey,” 
said Gunnison, 
gravely. 

"A few of us 
tried it,” said 
Johnson, "though the captain said that it would be better to 
prepare for the winter by getting a cave dug in the cliffs, and 
killing all the game we could to keep off the scurvy. But 
the mate wanted to go, and the old man gave us the best boat, 
with her guns and lances, and all the food we could take. 



WRECKED IN THE ICEFIELD. 














8 o 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

”We were gone just four clays; for though at first the 
going was very easy over the smooth glib ice, and we even 
set sail and rode for miles when the wind was fair, we soon 
came upon broken bergs and hummocks, and in getting our 
boat down a steep place, she got away from us, broke the 
mate’s leg, sprained a man’s ankle, and falling into a chasm, 
broke in two. That night we spent by a fire made of one half 
the boat, under the lee of the other half, with the limbs of the 



THE VISITING ESQUIMAUX. 

disabled men scathed in bedding until they looked like 
patients in the charity ward of a London hospital. The next 
day we laid them on the runners, and were glad enough when 
we got back to the old ' Orion ’ again. 

"The captain made us welcome, but we had to go to work 
the next morning, some blasting a cavern in the side of a 
frozen cliff, and the others cutting up firewood and hunting 
seals, bears, and walrus. Before we were half ready for them, 
the Esquimaux were around us, and from twenty or there- 










AMONG THE ICEBERGS. 


8 l 


abouts, they swarmed in with dogs and sledges, until I should 
think they numbered two or three hundred at least.” 

" I s’pose they were friendly, and traded with you for what 
meat and skins you wanted?” said Clark, inquiringly. 

"They set 
out to steal eve¬ 
rything we had/’ 
said the Swede, 
savagely; "and 
when we went 
on board and 
ordered them 
away, began to 
stave some casks 
of oil that hadn’t 
been taken in 
again. The oil 
was piled beside 
a small berg; 
and after warn¬ 
ing them away 
two or three 
times, the old 
man let drive a 
bomb-lance at a 
berg over their 
heads. The lance struck the side of the berg, flew into a deep 
crevice and exploded, blowing pieces of ice and snow all over 
and among them. I never saw such a stampede; all hands 
took to their sledges and left, but in a few days some came 
back with bear-skins and walrus-meat, and we had no further 
trouble with them. 

"We got through the winter pretty well; for the captain 

6 



POLAR BEAR AND CUBS. 






82 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


made us bathe often, and take exercise out-doors except in the 
most terrible cold, and we lost but one man by scurvy, and 
him because he wouldn't eat fat meat, or indeed any but what 
was cooked to a chip.” 

" I reckon you had some good hunting thereabouts,” said 
Rob, whose love for a gun was almost a passion. 

"We killed a few bears,— most of them close to the ship, 
attracted, no doubt, by the oil and refuse blubber left on the 
ice. Indeed, we found that the foxes, bears, dogs, and Esqui¬ 
maux would all eat it; and on one occasion a bear and two 
cubs were, all three killed while licking up the frozen oil not 
two gunshots from the ship. ’Twas a sad sight to see the 
poor thing lick and moan over her dead little ones when they 
dropped beside her; and she wouldn’t leave them, but faced 
our rifles until a heavy bullet from the mate’s whaling-gun 
went through her brain.” 

" Did you get the vessel clear in the spring? ” asked 
Cameron. 

"No, sir. The spring came on with heavy thaws that 
opened a belt of water where the thin ice had been; and in a 
gale from the nor’west the ' Orion ’ was stranded, and broke 
her back. We stayed by her, however, and killed two whales 
before the vessels got up to the point where the c Orion ’ and 
we had been imprisoned during the winter. The captain 
made a bargain to get his oil and bone taken aboard, divided 
his crew, boats, and gear between several vessels, and, I’ve 
heerd, saved the insurance folks a full half of what they lost by 
the ptf©r old ' Orion.’ ” 

" It’s your watch for’ard,” said the skipper to Rob, who 
had listened open-eyed to this simple tale of strange adven¬ 
ture. "I reckon thar’ll re’ily be little to do; but no one knows 
when the pack may open, or where we may find ourselves 
when it does.” 


AMONG THE ICEBERGS. 


. v.»v V 




83 


Rob rose, donned his seal-skins, buttoned his warmly-lined 
sou’wester firmly under his throat, and went out into the dark¬ 
ness. Groping his way forward, he relieved the fisherman 
forward, whom he found sitting on the windlass bits, with his 
back to the howling winds and biting flurries of sleet. 

'•What have you seen, John? ” asked Rob, as he rose to 
take refuge in the cabin. 

" Seen? Nothing; and the best thing you can do is to get 
under the lee of the rail, and let the 'Racer’ drift on in the 
care of Providence; for we can’t see a gunshot around us, and 
we can only guess how fast and which way the tide is 
taking us.” 

Rob could not but think the advice well supported by the 
facts, but stood out his two-hours’ watch, and at its close 
retired to sleep, which he did until so late an hour the next 
morning that when he awoke the storm had broken, the pack 
had begun to open, and Captain Clark, Jabez Strong, and 
Cameron had shot two huge male hooded seals, after watching 
a half-hour’s fight between the smooth-haired, lithe, and fero¬ 
cious monsters. 




DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


84 


CHAPTER VII. 


GREENLAND.- DANES, ESQUIMAUX, AND HALF-BREEDS.- 

MELVILLE SOUND.-A STORM AMID THE ICE.-LEFT ON 

THE FLOES.-THE " RACER ” DISAPPEARS. 



*ILD and desolate as Rob had deemed 
the savage coast of Labrador, his heart 
almost sank within him as, in the begin¬ 
ning of a warm, rainy south-wester, the 
, " Racer,” under the anxious pilotage of 
her captain, made the coast of Green¬ 
land, not far, as he thought, from Fisker- 
naes, and saw, under her lee, a desola¬ 
tion of ice and snow, of lava and granite, 
lashed by a fearful sea, which forbade 
the launching of anything but a dory, 
whale or life boat. 


Luckily, before the schooner had 
drifted so close in as to render it neces¬ 
sary to anchor, a pilot came off in a 
large, skin-covered boat, and was taken 
on board by means of a whip running 


through a snatch-block lashed to the main-stay, as the boat 
could scarcely with safety have ventured alongside. As soon 
as he was aboard, the fore-sail was raised, a line thrown to the 
boat as the schooner fell off before the wind, and half an hour 
later the " Racer” had threaded the narrow and dangerous 
passages, and lay in the haven of Fiskernaes,— a famous 
fishing centre of Greenland civilization. 



GREENLAND 


85 


Around them, on land and sea alike, were evidences of the 
narrow resources and stern necessities which rigidly limit 
civilized man to little beyond the necessities of barbarism, and 
forbid the savage to greatly exceed the conditions of his for¬ 
mer position, if either would win in the unceasing conflict 
with nature and the elements in their most cruel and merciless 
aspect. In the still waters of the fiord, Esquimau youths 



THE “ RACER ” OFF THE COAST OF GREENLAND. 


were hunting sea-fowl with the swift kayak and three-pronged 
bird-spear; and as the fishermen came to an anchor, the oomiak 
of the pilot "came alongside, and the wondering Americans 
saw, to use an Hibernianism, w that the oars men were all 
women.” Some of these wore closely-cut bodices of beaver- 
cloth, lined with fur, but their limbs were encased in the soft, 
silvery skins of young seals, and water-proof boots of the same 
material, reaching above the knee, were worn by all alike. 










86 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


The pilot waited patiently until the anchor was down, the 
sails secured, and all made snug aboard, and then received his 
very moderate fee, which, at his own request, was paid to him 
in flour, sugar, and tea; and when Skipper Clark, in consider¬ 
ation of the danger he had run, added some tobacco and clay- 
pipes, his satisfaction seemed complete. 

"Me take you ashore,” said he in broken English. "Plenty 
room in oomiak . Take one, three, six, more.” 

"Wal, boys,” said Clark; "Pm goin’ to let all hands go 

ashore except 
the cook; but I 
want you to re¬ 
member that the 
' Racer’ is jest 
the prettiest bit 
of wood an’ iron 
thet ever ran in 
here, an’ so 
her crew must 

ESQUIMAU KAYAK. 

match her, an’ 

be gentlemen. I don’t r’ally think thet any of you will forget 
to behave yourselves; but if any man does — ” and the gigan¬ 
tic skipper made a tremendous "knot of knuckles” of a hand 
which his friends had somewhat irreverently compared to 
"the hand of Providence.” 

Jabez Strong, with Cameron and Rob, accepted the pilot’s 
offer, and went ashore in the great oomicifc , treading gingerly 
on her flooring-timbers, and almost afraid to venture farther 
when they espied through her covering of oiled seal-skins, 
almost as translucent as horn, the line of the icy waters which 
bore her. 

They took " heart of grace,” however, as they noticed how 
confidently the half-breed pilot and his women bore them- 










E S QJJIMAUX AND HALF-BREEDS. 


8 7 

selves, but discreetly sat down in the very bottom of the tot- 
tlish craft, steadying themselves with a hand on either gunwale.,. 
The tide ran fast, a great many fragments of hard, flinty ice 
were running with the current, and suddenly there was a little 
shock, a slight exclamation from the pilot, and Rob saw, to his 
horror, a small cut 
open below the 
water-line at his 
very feet. Before 
a pint of water 
had entered, the 
nearest woman had 
dropped her oar, 
produced a bit of 
blubber, stuffed it 
through the aper¬ 
ture, and resumed 
her rowing* while 
Strong, who had 
half removed his 
coat in preparation 
for a swim, re¬ 
placed it with an 
amusing expres¬ 
sion of mingled re- 

° ESQUIMAU DOG-SLEDGE. 

lief and vexation. 

At the shore they were greeted by the Danish superinten¬ 
dent of the colony, who in fair English made them welcome, 
received with pleasure several newspapers and magazines 
thoughtfully brought ashore by Cameron, and turned to survey 
the little village and its surroundings. The few buildings, 
often comprising dwelling-house, store-house, fishing-stage, 
and dog-kennel all in one, stood near the water, on a rounded, 













88 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


sterile plateau strewed with huge boulders; the Danish flag 
floated from a small spar near the governor’s house; the fiord, 
still covered above with ice, stretched away, bordered by 
majestic but desolate hills and eternal glaciers; and around, 
the routine of a novel semi-civilization claimed and received 
the attention of Rob and his comrades. 

Here a native Esquimau or his savage helpmeet, clad in 

kapetah and nessak 
(jumper and hood) of 
shaggy bear-skin, or the 
soft fur of the arctic fox, 
with breeches and boots 
of the same material, and 
carrying harpoons and 
lances of steel-tipped nar¬ 
whal-horn, gazed wonder- 
ingly at the ” white man’s 
village;” while outlying 
Danish hunters skurried 
past on their homeward 

HUNTING THE NARWHAL. . 

way, their dog-sledges 
laden with their purchases and supplies, and perchance with 
one or more half-breed children, half crazy with joy at the 
wonders and delights of their unwonted holiday. 

Down by the beach men were getting ready their boats 
and fishing-gear; and Christianized Esquimaux and half- 
blooded Danes worked side by side, indifferent whether a 
fishing-boat needed to be caulked and painted, or a kayak 
was to be mended with seal-skin, bone, and walrus-sinew. 
Indeed, the most skilful fishing skipper was an Esquimau, the 
surest rifle-shot a half-breed, the most daring kayaker a Dane. 
Even during their short stay the Americans had reason to 
wonder at the skill of the latter, who, sitting in the bone- 





THE KAYACKER 


89 


rimmed well of his long, narrow boat, thought nothing of 
driving her sharp prow and his own bowed head through a 
short sea which would otherwise have rolled boat and man 
end over end, reappearing like a loon on the other side of the 
wave. In still water he took in both hands a large stone, and, 



GETTING UNDER WEIGH. 


holding it above his head, gave a quick and powerful inclina¬ 
tion of his body, which not only upset the kayak, but carried 
him through the water, and set him upright and smiling as 
before, having turned a complete summersault in the water. 

Carlie Heindrikson — for such was his name — was an ex¬ 
pert slayer of narwhal, seal, and walrus; but save the striking 
of one of the latter at a distance, among a labyrinth of bergs, 
Rob saw nothing of the most dangerous and exciting of 
Greenland’s strange and perilous avocations. 

But the " Racer ” was bound for the halibut grounds of 










9 ° 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


Disco Island, and, despite the entreaties of the ho_spitable 
Danes of Fiskernaes, Clark waited only for the subsidence of 
the gale and a favoring breeze to set out on the voyage north¬ 
ward. As he was preparing to leave the harbor, however, 
under guidance of the old pilot, Clark pointed to a short, blunt- 
bowed, rusty-sided schooner in the haven. w Why don’t you 
folks build something like a vessel? How can you ever get 
anywhere in such a tub as that is?” 

"De 'Fraulein Flaischer’ is a goot boat,” said the old man; 
" a very goot boat. Not so fas’, not so pretty, but more safe in 
de //ice. S’pose you stop two ten day more here,” he added, 
persuasively. " Plenty cod soon in fiord. Ice no jam here. 
Plenty ice-jam outside; lose schooner, boat, men, perhaps.” 

Skipper Clark was ordinarily a kind-hearted, and, as he 
said of himself, "a moderate man;” but he shook off the hand 
which the old man had laid on his arm, and ordered the men 
to " pall and heave ” in a tone so sharp and dictatorial that the 
men grumbled as they went to the windlass. Still, they 
worked with a will. Strong somewhat sulkily announced, 
" Hove taut, sir,” and ten minutes later the white wings of the 
" Racer ’’were spread, and, with a leading southerly breeze, 
she was standing out to £ea from the humble but hospitable 
trading-post of Fiskernaes. 

" Good-bye, old man!” cried Clark, pleasantly enough, as 
the pilot dropped gingerly into his oomiak alongside. "We’ve 
a fair breeze, a calm sea, an’ warm weather now, an’ it won’t 
be long before we are inside Disco Island, I’ll be bound.” 

Old Tobias held up his long, lean forefinger warningly: 
w First fog, den rain, den wind, and //ice all de time. Schooner 
no good in ^ice, too sharp, too straight. Take care! ” 

As he spoke, his women bent to their oars, the long but 
feather-like oomiak shot over the rough sea, seeming to skim 


FAST IN THE ICE. 


9 1 


\ts surface like a stormy petrel, and Clark, turning in disgust, 
saw Cameron at his side. 

"Did you ever hear such an old fool?” he muttered. 
" The old fellow never saw a decent-modelled craft in his life, 
or he wouldn’t talk so. Why, the 'Racer’ would live where 
his old hooker would drown in ten minutes.” 

"Yes, on the banks or clawing of a lee shore, I grant you,” 
said Cameron; "but ice is the great peril of Greenland navi¬ 
gation, and I’m afraid the old fellow thinks that she won’t 
'lift’ when jammed between two floes. A vessel that is 
round-bottomed and drawing little water is the safest in such 
a case; for the pressure is often irresistible, and only by being 
raised bodily out of the water can a vessel escape destruction.” 

"Well, I’ll risk the 'Racer,’ any way,” said Clark, somewhat 
angrily. " She’s of good white-oak an’ copper-fastened, an’ ’ll 
stand all she’s got to meet here, I warrant.” 

" I’m sure I hope so,” said Cameron, laughingly. " I for 
one don’t want to be left on the floes without shelter, or 
crushed to pieces with the pretty ' Racer.’ ” 

That evening the wind almost died away, but the fog crept 
slowly in until nothing was visible twenty yards ahead of the 
vessel, and more than once the drifting vessel came in contact 
with low, heavy floes and small bergs; while Cameron, rifle in 
hand, shot two large seals asleep on the ice, as they unexpect¬ 
edly found themselves close to the schooner. Late into the 
hours of night, the long arctic day gave ample light for reading 
coarse print, and Rob could scarcely sleep at all, so strange 
seemed the absence of darkness and the scenes around them. 
About midnight, however, the fog changed to a misty drizzle, 
and this toward morning to a heavy rain; while the ice around 
the vessel closed noiselessly in until farther progress was im¬ 
possible. The vessel lay perfectly enclosed by low-lying but 
massive floes, interspersed with a few icebergs, most of them 


9 2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


obviously rotten and unsafe neighbors, as every now and then 
a projection of one would fall in fragments, or the entire mass, 
losing its equilibrium, would upset with a great crash, and 
remain rocking and oscillating in its place for half an hour 
after. One of them, however, was a true glacial berg of clear 
opaline ice; and as it lay but a few paces from the schooner, 



TAKING AN OBSERVATION. 


Cat^eron proposed that some one should ascend it, and survey 
the prospect beyond. 

Clark and Strong instantly acceded, and Rob followed 
Cameron as he sprang upon the floe alongside; and running 
across this, they found themselves at the foot of the great berg. 
Not a particle of snow lay anywhere upon its glassy surface, 
and only by the little projections and natural terraces formed 
by the line of its original fracture from the parent glacier 
could they ascend its polished and slippery sides. On arriv¬ 
ing at the top, however, Clark uttered a cry of delight as he 
saw that what had seemed a " blind lead ” on the hither side 
of the berg, really led into a narrow but navigable' channel 
beyond. 

* • 







A STORM AMID THE ICE. 


93 


" It leads jest on our course, too,” he said, evidently de¬ 
lighted at this stroke of good fortune. "An’ ef I don’t mistake, 
ef we only can hev a fair wind, we’ll be at Disco by day after 
to-morrow, or thereabouts.” 

" There’s wind enough yonder,” said Cameron, pointing to 
the ocean they had already traversed; "and ice enough too. 
Those clouds in the south-west mean mischief. I hope we 
have open water enough between us and the coast to save us 
from being nipped if yonder heavy bergs are driven in upon 
us.” 

"Don’t be a baby, Cameron,” cried Clark, angrily. "We’ve 
twenty good miles of offing, an’ once clear of this berg, we’ll 
be ten miles from here in an hour’s time, I’ll warrant.” 

"And in among yonder bergs,” said Cameron, quietly. 

"What do you want the skipper to do, then?” asked 
Strong, curiously. 

" I think we had better stay where we are. The vessel lies 
well off from the land, and the ice around her slants deep 
down under her keel. If the bergs come in on us here, we 
shall be lifted out of the water, and shores and ice-anchors 
will keep us on an even keel. Then, when the pressure is 
taken off, we’ll be let down into the sea again.” 

" And have the cabin or forecastle stove upset on the floor 
as like as not, an’ the new paint on her sides rubbed off all 
along her bends. No! I’ll take any risk but this, so long as 
we have plenty of room to run to leeward in.” 

"Well, let’s hurry then,” said Strong, impatiently, pointing 
to windward, whence an ominous curtain of murky clouds was 
advancing with fearful speed. " Get in your fasts! ” he roared 
to Gunnison, who stood by the rail; and descending in haste, 
they found the men on deck and ready for action. 

Two ice-anchors were planted on either side of the open¬ 
ing; and manning them, the crew urged the light craft around 


94 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


the great berg; and as the first blinding squall struck around 
them, the ice closed in behind, and the lead in front opened 
invitingly before them. " Up fores’ll” cried Clark, eagerly. 
"Let go your fasts!” But Cameron’s voice interposed: 

"For Heaven’s sake! hold on until the snow-squall is over 
at least. The lead is narrow, and even under short sail we 
may strike a hummock and sink her. If I were skipper, I’d 
stay in the lee of the berg until the storm was over, and run to 
leeward in less threatening weather.” 

Even Clark, though angry at the interference with his 
authority, saw the justice of this appeal; but in a few moments 
the snow again gave place to rain, and as the lead still re¬ 
mained open, Clark gave the necessary orders, and the fasts 
were let go. 

With only her foresail set, the " Racer ” seemed fairly fly¬ 
ing, and ere long it became necessary to reef, until a mere tithe 
of her canvas kept her headlong course before the gale; while 
two men at her bows signalled to her helmsmen how to avoid 
the numerous fragments of floating ice, against which, in spite 
of their greatest care, they nevertheless, now and then, bumped 
so heavily that several of the crew received severe falls from 
the concussions. 

Clark, although he would not confess it, now regretted his 
precipitancy, and cast many anxious looks at the massive ice¬ 
fields to leeward, and the fleet of gigantic bergs coming down 
with the gale upon his beloved craft. Cameron quietly brought 
on deck a shooting-bag, evidently packed for contingencies; 
others of the crew made haste to secure a hearty meal, and to 
dress themselves for active exertion; while axes, ice-anchors, 
saws, and pike-poles were prepared and placed in different 
parts of the vessel. 

At last Clark saw that a line of ice-bergs had closed the 
channel not more than a mile ahead. To go back was impos- 


THE "RACER” DISAPPEARS FOREVER. 95 

sible, to go forward ruin; and giving orders to set more sail, 
he brought the little schooner upon the wind, and tacking 
when close to the windward limit of the narrow pool, stood 
across to where a narrow expanse of sheety and rotten ice lay 
between two large floes. She flung it aside gallantly, and los¬ 
ing speed as the pressure increased, lay temporarily motionless 
between two masses of ice, reaching above water to the level 
of the bulwarks, and below far down into the cold, clear 
waters, — straight emerald walls of translucent ice. 

"We must get out of this,” cried Strong, leaping upon the 
ice with a sharp ice-anchor, and Cameron, emulating his 
example, carried out a line from the other bow. The windlass 
was manned, the lines came slowly in, and wedging apart the 
walls which threatened to crush her, the w Racer” issued into 
another narrow lead just as the pressure became too great for 
safety. 

Again the hunted vessel fled before the gale; now through 
pools covered with thin, brittle ice; again amid an archipelago 
of miniature ice islands, shut in by mountain ranges of en¬ 
croaching bergs; and again passing some narrow strait between 
jaws of ice opened for her destruction; while all the time the 
pursuing gale and the irresistible floes closed in behind and 
around her. 

To Rob the next half hour seemed a terrible, feverish 
dream, through which, awed but not afraid, helpless but not 
hopeless, he moved an unwilling actor in a constant struggle 
with the elements. A sudden, almost magical change in the 
movements of the ice in which, like the hub of a gigantic 
wheel, the "Racer” seemed to be gyrating, tore the floes apart 
at one end, threatening to break the fasts which had been a 
moment before carried out to steady her. It was evident that 
the swing of the floe would in a moment rnore close the only 
opening through which, although it led into a labyrinth of 


9 6 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


large and dangerous bergs, lay the only road of escape from 
the pursuing pack. 

Clark leapt to the wheel. "Cast loose those anchors for¬ 
ward!” he thundered; and Rob, seeing an axe lying beside the 
one to windward, sprang over the side, and catching up the 
weapon, waited a second for some one to pay out the warp on 
board the schooner, when he intended to clear the anchor and 
leap on board. Suddenly he heard a crash, and saw the boat, 
at the davits trailing by a single fall, and Clark, almost beside 
himself, called out to him to " strike.” 

As he did so, the rope parted with the noise of a discharged 
howitzer, the schooner seemed fairly to rebound from the ice 
with the released pressure, and, before he could overcome his 
stupefaction, the " Racer ” was twenty yards away, whirling 
through the eddying slush, and followed by trembling masses 
of the floes themselves, torn off and rolled along by the terri¬ 
ble force and attrition of their impact. 

For over a mile he could see the efforts of the crew as 
they hurriedly made sail to escape through the narrowing lead, 
and even hoisted the huge, square fore-topsails provided for 
running before the wind in such emergencies; under which 
accession of speed they drove easily through a long, black floe 
of rotten ice, nearly a foot in thickness; but he caught no word 
of farewell or counsel from all who had been his comrades. 

But just as the schooner was emerging into heavier ice, he 
saw something like a pike-pole, with a flag attached, darted 
from the quarter-deck upon a small, low-lying berg, and gazing 
alternatingly at the friendly signal and his lost vessel, the poor 
boy saw the " Racer ” enter the dark labyrinth of bergs, and 
disappear from his view forever. 



THE RACER DISAPPEARS 



































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































9 8 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

ALONE ON THE ICE. — THE LAST ACT OF FRIENDSHIP. — 
FOOD, FIRE, AND DEFENCE.-THE GHOSTS.-A SAD RE¬ 
UNION. ~ MAKING THE LAND.-NATIVE HOSPITALITY.— 

GOOD-BYE TO GREENLAND. 

HE way to the floe, where a handker¬ 
chief waving from an ice-pole denoted 
some attempt at succor on the part of 
his friends, was not very difficult for 
an active boy like our hero, and Rob 
was soon upon the long, thick, level 
ice-field, which, rising six or eight feet 
above the water, told of a mass of a t 
least sixty feet in thickness below him. 

As he ran towards the pennon, he 
saw in the crack between the two floes 
where the Racer had passed, fragments 
of the destroyed boat, and along the 
brink on either side were scattered logs 
of firewood, several cans of preserved 
meats, and a suit of oil-clothes which 
had been the day before stoppered in 
the rigging after a heavy coating of water-proofing preparation. 
But beside the pole lay Cameron’s game-bag, and on the pole 
some lines were scribbled by the same thoughtful comrade. 





ALONE ON THE ICE. 


99 


w Courage, Rob. Stay where you are to-night. To-morrow 
go due east to land. Keep a fire at night, a signal by day, and 
trust in God all the time.” 

Rob fell on his knees against the lonely signal, and pressing 
his lips to the wood, burst into tears. Above him the heavens 
were still dark; on him mingling rain and sleet beat piteously, 
under him groaned and cracked the thick floes under the press¬ 
ure of miles of drifting berg and floe, and around him was 
nothing but danger and utter desolation. But in a moment 
the weakness was gone, and, dashing away the tears, he rose 
to his feet and hastened to prepare for the night. 

Under the lee of a small hummock he gathered together 
the few articles thrown upon the floe, and the wood and frag¬ 
ments of the broken boat, and putting on the oil-clothes, he 
stripped some bark from a birchen log, cut some splinters from 
a bit of cedar planking, and soon had two sticks of cord-wood 
burning in two at the middle. After which he hewed a shel¬ 
tering nook in the side of the hummock, and making a dry 
seat with some bits of board, sat down under cover for the 
first time in over twelve hours. 

By his side lay his axe, in his hand he held Cameron’s 
heavy revolver, which, loaded with waterproof cartridges, had 
evidently been hastily taken from the belt and thrust into the 
bag. And when at last the two logs had been burnt into four, 
and piled together burst into bright flame, Rob, tired out 
and weary with sorrow, after a fervent prayer for help and 
courage, fell asleep. 

He awoke with a start: the dying fire at his feet sputtered 
and hissed as the live coals fell upon the melting ice; and the 
horizoa, dark and indistinct, told that fog and night still eclipsed 
the Arctic sun. The storm, however, seemed less violent, and 
Rob raised himself from his icy lair to replenish his dying fire. 

He started as he saw just in the shadow of a dusky berg, 


IOO 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


some hundreds of yards away, two moving objects which were 
silently gliding away over the broken and piled up ice. For a 
moment his heart was in his throat, and in his great desolation 
he hardly dared to hail the mysterious wanderers; then he 
essayed a lusty hail, but the words died away to a husky 
« Halloo!” Angry at his own weakness, Rob seized his pis¬ 
tol and rushed after the strange visitants; but although he ran 
at a respectable rate of speed, he seemed to gain little or noth¬ 
ing upon them. Once they disappeared entirely from view, 
and Rob stopped in some trepidation until he saw them again, 

and keeping on 
toward the spot 
found that in some 
inexplicable way 
they had crossed 
an open tide-crack 
of some extent, 
and despairing of 
overtaking them, 
Rob returned 
shivering to his 
fire, and finally 
again fell asleep. When he again awoke, the daylight had 
come, his fire was burning brightly, and beside it, with bowed 
head, sat Cameron. 

Rob could scarcely believe his eyes, and was about to 
greet him joyously, but something in the air and attitude of 
his friend kept him silent. He arose, advanced, and laid his 
hand upon his comrade’s shoulder. w How kind of you, Mr. 
Cameron, to look me up so soon. I have been comfortable, but 
so lonely. Where is the 'Racer’ anchored? I shan’t feel all 
right again until I get on board again.” 

Cameron turned his head, and Rob could see that some 









A SAD REUNION. 


IOI 


terrible experience had come upon this man, so cool, brave, 
genial, and self-reliant heretofore. His eyes were red with 
weeping and weariness, his clothes wet, torn, and bloody, and 
his right hand was bandaged, and hung supported by a silk 
kerchief. 

" The ' Racer ’ is lost, Rob,” he said solemnly. " I alone 
escaped, and almost by a miracle. We are all that are left of 
her crew of fourteen men.” For a moment he was unable to 
proceed; as for Rob, he had given way to a passion of awe and 
grief. 

" After we left you here,” continued Cameron, " we soon 
found that the ice to leeward was not moving, but pressed 
against the land, and as it was of the heaviest description, I 
saw at once that we were in imminent danger. Clark, how¬ 
ever, was calm, and taking the helm himself steered his doomed 
vessel into an open lead, and stripping her to a reefed foresail, 
strove to keep her moving with the pack and clear of the land 
ice, alongside of which we were rushing at a fearful velocity. 

"For a time all went well; but at last a field ahead of us 
caught and swung us in between it and the ice-foot. I saw the 
enormous mass break in the bulwarks, and heard the timbers 
crack beneath me. Then I sprang from the fore-rigging upon 
the floes, and as I struck, rolled over and over, cutting my 
clothes and flesh in several places. 

"When I struggled to my feet the vessel was gone,— sunk, 
I suppose, — and pressed down by the roaring ice-current; 
and although I looked everywhere, I could not see even a spar 
to tell of the loss of the ' Racer.’ 

"But, come,” he continued, "this is no place or time to 
lament our misfortune. The shore is not many miles distant; 
let us ascend yonder berg, and see if we can discern it.” 

As they went toward the great ice-mountain, now beginning 
to glow with the reflection of the low, circling sun, Rob told 


102 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


of the strange visitants of the night. Suddenly they came 
upon the impression of a foot in some half-frozen snow. 
«’Twas here they passed,” cried Rob. " See, they must have 
been natives, for they were shod with hairy skins. 

« Ay, and claws, too, Rob,” said Cameron, with something 
like a smile. " Nannook the polar-bear has called to see what 
stranger was camping on his hunting-grounds. It was fortu- 



ALONE ON THE DRIFTING BERG. 


nate for you that he was not very hungry, and a little afraid of 
so large a blaze.” 

Ascending the berg they looked down at last upon a scene, 
so peaceful, calm, and beautiful, that it seemed scarcely possi¬ 
ble that the dreadful events and conflict of the elements of the 


last twenty-four hours could be more than a terrible dream. 
A fog did indeed still hang over the ice-fields, but it was so 
light that it seemed a rosy haze half penetrated by the sun¬ 
beams, through which fantastic pinnacle, castellated berg, and 
drifted floe, shone with softer and more wonderful beauty 





MAKING THE LAND. 


I0 3 


To the west the floes were already opening; far away on the 
horizon the topsails of a whaler, going northward, told of the 
presence of civilized man; and amid the floating ice rose the 
frequent spouting of the narwhals, the bellow of belligerent 
walrus, and the sharp bark of the Arctic fox, disappointed in 
securing some of the many birds which filled every pool with 
beauty and graceful life. 

"’Tis a pretty sight,” said Cameron,gravely, "but it tells us 
only of the dangers of a drift southward, and the small proba¬ 
bility of our being picked up by any vessel. Let us look 
shoreward.” 

Turning to the east, they saw that the ice was already mov¬ 
ing to the south, and that ere long the light breeze would be 
insufficient to keep the fields close to the coast, which was seen 
not more than seven or eight miles away; but they hoped to 
strike a cape projecting as many miles into the sea. 

Setting a course by a pocket compass, and getting the bear¬ 
ings of an enormous berg, evidently fast to the shore-ice, Cam¬ 
eron led the way to Rob’s bivouac, where, taking a couple of 
cans of cooked beef, he gave one to Rob, as also the axe and 
pistol. Slinging his gun on his back, he took the long pike- 
pole, and they set out on their shoreward journey. 

The floes were nearly clear of snow, and the walking ex¬ 
cellent, but many long detours were rendered necessary to 
avoid rotten ice and open pools, while here and there the 
adventurers were fain to get upon a small pan, and paddle it 
across the open belts. These gradually increased in number 
and size as they drew near the shore, and when they reached 
the last floe, they found that it would drift at least fifty yards 
clear of the cape. There were no small pans available, for the 
floe, though long and narrow, was of great thickness, and it 
was useless to think of trying to split off a smaller pan with 
their only axe. 


104 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

Anxiously they waited, hoping that some turn of the tide 
or secret current would sweep them nearer, but the long floe 
was halfway past the point when Cameron shouted, " Run, 
Rob, run!” and started for the upper end at full speed. 
Rob obeyed, and racing up the floe, saw that the impact of 
another field was swinging the latter in between the one on 
which they were and the shore. Getting upon this they saw 
that its outer end had been caught by the pack and was swing¬ 
ing round like a gate, and in a moment more a shock made the 
whole mass tremble as it scraped along the shore-ice and sub¬ 
merged ledges of the welcome shore, on which our adventur¬ 
ers easily landed. 

Few places could be more desolate than the rugged spot 
where they knelt in grateful prayer for their deliverance; but 
to the tried and anxious adventurers it seemed fair beyond ex¬ 
pression, though a small glacier between two eminences of 
sterile rock, bordered by ledges, where lay the skeleton of a 
dead walrus, picked clean by bear and fox, were the only feat¬ 
ures of a landscape where nothing bespoke the presence of 
even savage man. Inland the hills rose higher and higher, 
joined by the icy sea of the great glaciers, and to the south 
and east other capes showed the dusky ledges amid the float¬ 
ing ice-mountains, drifting hither and thither with tide and 
wind. 

"Well!” said Cameron, "let us eat and rest; the weather 
is calm and likely to improve. We are somewhere between 
Disco and Holsteinborg, and, as the land seems to bend east¬ 
ward to the north of us, I judge that we shall more easily 
reach the latter place.” 

They seated themselves on a large boulder of limestone, 
under the lee of the cliff, and opening one of the cans of pre¬ 
pared beef, ate for the first time since the accident a hearty 
meal. Greatly to Rob’s surprise, the lack of bread was hardly 


A HEARTY MEAL. IO5 

regretted, and he ate alternate mouthfuls of lean muscle and 
tallowy fat with surprising relish. 

” Why, Mr. Cameron! ” he exclaimed as the empty can fell 
from the rocky table; "do you know I never could bear fat, 
and now I think I could eat candles, or drink oil, as they say 
the Esquimaux do.” 



THE GLACIERS. 


" I’ve no doubt we should soon come to it, my boy, if we 
were here in the long winters; for starch and sugar which 
nourish men in warmer climes will not support life in men 
exposed to fifty and sixty degrees below freezing. But what 
course shall we take now? Shall we cross the ice to the next 
cape, or proceed up the fiord until we strike the sledge track 
of some hunter, or the winding road which is called the 'Colo¬ 
nial Itinerary’ and connects the Danish settlements?” 




£0 6 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

" It can’t be more than ten miles across the ice, and the floe 
seems not to have welted much as yet,” said Rob, shading his 
eyes from the reflected sunbeams. " I hope I’m not going to 
be sick,” he added, evidently a little alarmed. "I can scarcely 
see anything now.” 

" I’ll soon cure that, Rob. It’s only snow-blindness,” 
laughed Cameron, and taking his handkerchief, he filled it with 
dry clay from the most exposed southern face of the cliff. 
" Lie down on this dry ledge,” he added, carefully disposing 
his rifle so as to be at hand. " We’ll have a good nap while 
we can sleep in the sunshine.” 

So saying, he laid the clay bandage on Rob’s closed eyes, 
and, pillowed upon the oil-clothes and haversack, the comrades 
fell asleep, with the warm dry ledge, the full heat of the sum¬ 
mer sun, and the shelter of the cliff, to keep them comfortable. 

When they awoke they were shivering with cold, and the 
risen tide had left scraps of sea-wreck at their feet. The sun 
had passed westward until just concealed by the pole; he nev¬ 
ertheless lit up the northern sky with a halo of crimson light. 

" Come, Rob, let us be stirring,” cried Cameron, as he pain¬ 
fully rose to his feet; and taking his few movables, poor Rob 
set out on a journey whose first steps were actual torture, so 
completely chilled and benumbed had he insensibly become. 

They found a belt of open water interposed between the 
rocks and the ice, but easily crossed it on a floating cake,'and 
pressed southward toward the dark headland ten miles or more 
away. This distance they would soon have achieved, but that 
the ice-cracks and pools of open water or rotten ice caused 
many and devious detours, and when the sun fairly shone warmly 
in the east and the comrades ascended the rocky ledges of the 
headland, Cameron judged that they had journeyed twenty 
miles at least. 

"We must rest here,” he said, "and I must make you some 


A WEALTH OF ANIMAL LIFE. I07 

Esquimaux goggles, that is if we can find a bit of driftwood. 
Just look along the waterline, Rob, and I will twist up some 
twine for the cords.” 

Rob rose to his feet, and kicking aside the rubbish 
wherever the snow had melted away, attempted to secure the 
desired material, but the few small pieces found at first were 
rotten and mere chips in size. Suddenly he turned the point 
of the headland and as suddenly stopped short at the wealth 



A DEAD NARWHAL. 


of animal life suddenly disclosed in and around a small ex¬ 
panse of open water. In the foreground lay a dead narwhal 
already half consumed by bears and Arctic foxes, and no less 
than four of the latter took to flight in utter dismay at the in¬ 
trusion of our hero, while the surface of the pool was broken 
by the sphinx-like head of a walrus, who, raising himself 
breast-high, took a final look at the intruder, and then with a 
heavy splash, dived to appear no more within rifle-range. 

But what pleased Rob most of all was to see the cliffs 


io8 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


white with resting auks and guillemots, while sea-gulls of vari¬ 
ous species, and the graceful Moniac duck (Harelda glctci - 
alis) were to be seen in the open tide creeks. 

Hastening back he informed Cameron of his discovery, 
and taking his rifle, the naturalist substituted for the usual ball 
cartridge one loaded with large shot. A single well-directed 
shot killed seven or eight lumme sitting on a ledge of the cliff, 
and Rob, going to retrieve them, was almost frightened at the 
white cloud of swift-flying pinions which filled the air as the 
frightened mother-birds poured out from every cranny and 
crevice of the greenstone ledges. Rob, however, soon recov¬ 
ered his equanimity, and was soberly picking up one bird after 
another, when he attracted Cameron’s attention by another ex¬ 
clamation; and looking up, Cameron saw him holding up a 
small, oval, variegated object, and heard his enthusiastic shout 
of ” Eggs! eggs! ” 

Half an hour later Rob had got his cap full of them, of 
various sizes and colors; while Cameron had made a fire of dry 
peat, and using a tin plate from his haversack as a frying-pan, 
had fried a couple of dozen, which they easily disposed of; 
after which, piling a score of sods on their peat fire, they 
essayed another night’s rest. 

But first Cameron had found a tiny block of wood, and 
from it split a piece about a quarter of an inch thick, an inch 
wide, and three or four in length. In this he cut two narrow 
long slits, so placed that when tied across the nose the appa¬ 
ratus formed a kind of spectacle, which effectually broke the 
force of the refracted rays which had already scalded and 
nearly skinned their faces, and might utterly blind them if 
faced without some protection. 

The next morning the ice had changed so that a lead of 
open water nearly reached the pools around the cape, and so 
vast were the numbers of swimming and flying birds, that even 


A bear’s stratagem. 


109 

Cameron was amazed. Hundreds of seals were also visible, 
and not a few walrus5 but the appearance of several bears 
caused the sudden disappearance of the seals, although the 
birds seemed to have no fear of these clumsy-looking, but 
subtle, agile, and powerful animals. 

Several flocks of various species, but principally eider-ducks 
and brent geese 
were resting on 
some small floes, 
that drifting sea¬ 
ward with the tide 
were perceived by 
the bears, one of 
which slid noise¬ 
lessly into the 
water, and diving, 
came to the sur¬ 
face just showing 
the tip of his nose 
not two hundred 
yards from the 
birds. Sinking 
again, he came up 
within fifty yards 
of the flock, but 
amid a lot of small fragments of ice; and even Cameron and 
Rob, though they were breathless spectators of this ursine 
stratagem, only detected the presence and noiseless disappear¬ 
ance of an additional white dot on the mirror-like surface. 

Half a minute later, however, a long white paw and white- 
fanged jaws shot up out of the depths, a terrible stroke laid 
several of the birds crushed and dying, and as the frightened 
survivors, with a thunderous rush of wings and confused cries, 










no 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


took to flight, the great white ranger of the floes had lightly 
climbed upon the revolving ice-raft, and was devouring its 
victims. 

"Well done,” said Cameron, gravely. “ Those, if Pm not 
mistaken, Rob, are your visitors of the other night. The other 
one, if not both, will probably be here soon to feast on the dead 
narwhal. Let us go and hide ourselves, where my rifle will 
cover them.” 

Accordingly, they took their weapons, and cautiously crept 
behind the inequalities of the ice and fallen boulders to within 
twenty yards of the dead narwhal; but to their disgust a saucy 
little fox espied them, and uttering his sharp, quavering bark, 
which curiously enough is almost identical with the Esquimaux 
hail of " huh! huk!” awoke the suspicion of the bears, and 
they moved slowly to seaward, sometimes walking and some¬ 
times swimming, until they reached the incoming ice and were 
lost in a fog bank. 

The disappointed hunters accordingly returned to their fire, 
and were debating the wisdom of attempting to face a brace 
of bears with a rifle, revolver, and axe only, when they heard 
from behind the cape a confused noise like the calling of a 
pack of hounds. " ’Tis the foxes,” said Rob, as Cameron 
caught up his rifle; and he, laying down his weapon, sat down 
again and was about to dispose himself to sleep when over the 
broken ice, pressed together by the incoming tide, and dimly 
seen through the gathering fogs, shambled a large Arctic bear 
evidently in a great hurry. So quickly did he pass that Cam¬ 
eron had no time to seize his rifle; and as the castaways looked 
in blank wonder at each other, two smaller objects darted by, 
and the next moment the dog-team of an Esquimaux hunter 
dashed past, the driver plying his long whip and shouting 
" Nanook! nanook /” at the top of his lungs, to his dogs, who 
were perfectly crazy to attack their huge quarry. 


AN ESQJJIMAU HUNTER. HI 

Cameron and Rob sprang to their feet and ran at their 
greatest speed after the hunter* but the dogs were too strong 
and eager, and the sledge was soon lost from view in the fog. 
As they halted, panting and breathless, Cameron motioned to 
Rob for the pistol at his belt, and taking it he discharged aV 
five of the cartridges in the direction of the sledge. 



A BEAR HUNT. 


w If he hears it there is no fear but that he will seek us out 
on his way home,” said he quietly. 

In effect it was only some two hours later that Pingejak, a 
half-breed of Holsteinborg, was seated beside the fire, feasting 
on spitted lumme and eggs roasted in hot peat-ashes. He 
spoke little or no English, but Cameron managed to communi¬ 
cate to him by signs, and rude sketches of things and persons, 
that he would give his rifle and axe to whoever would take 
him and his companion to Holsteinborg. 

A journey of some ten miles up the fiord they had crossed 
brought them to the huts where Pingeiak and his companions 











11 2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


were camped for the spring hunt. These low structures of turf 
and stone, reached by the tunnel-like tossut of like materials, 
and ventilated only by a small hole in the roof, were neverthe¬ 
less a most welcome shelter to the travellers, and among the 
men gathered there were several who could speak English 
very passably. These informed Cameron that all the men he 
saw were w Christian Esquimaux,” and indeed the light com¬ 
plexion and yellow hair of some of the women and children 
pointed to intermarriage with the Danes. 

While all used the Esquimau lamp with its wicks of moss 
fed with blubber, their food was well cooked in pots of Euro¬ 
pean manufacture; and when they retired to rest, the rescued 
wanderers, on a soft couch of reindeer-skins, sunk into a dream¬ 
less and refreshing sleep. 

During the six or eight days that they remained with their 
kindly hosts they saw much of interest, and were almost dis¬ 
posed to remain with them to take part in the great reindeer 
hunts, from which the district of Holsteinborg receives the 
thousands of skins which are shipped thence yearly to Europe. 

They did, however, make an attempt to revisit the scene 
of the loss of the ” Racer,” and, the ice having drifted off shore 
previously, found a few bits of wood and a part of one of the 
dories carried by the fated vessel. Night coming on, however, 
a fire of turf was lighted, and the party having taken bearings 
of the probable location of the schooner, lay down to sleep. 

Cameron and Rob, however, were less somnolent than some 
of the party, and when shortly after midnight the light became 
stronger, the former took a long ice-pole, furnished with hook 
and spike, and Rob the ice-axe, and both went down to the 
shore. The wind was blowing chilly from the north-west, and 
as they stepped upon the terraced decline, that marking the suc¬ 
cessive elevations of ancient beaches led to the water’s edge, 
they saw here and there amid the breakers, barrels, cordwood, 


SEARCH FOR THE DEAD. II3 

and other floating reminders of the destruction of their vessel 
and comrades. Rob was about to run back and call the Esqui¬ 
maux, but Cameron prevented him. "No, Rob, not yet,” said 
he, sadly. " If we are to meet with any of our old comrades, 
let it be by ourselves, and alone with our dead and God.” 

YV ith his blood almost freezing in his veins, the boy com¬ 
plied, but they searched a mile or more of coast-line, without 
finding what 
they feared, yet 
hoped to see. 

At last, in a nook 
of the cape, un¬ 
der the lee of 
its sharpest 
headland, Cam¬ 
eron suddenly 
dropped on one 
knee, and, low¬ 
ering his boat¬ 
hook, caught 

THE DEAD CAPTAIN. 

gently at a dark 

object floating in a slight eddy, and drew it to the shore. 

It was the body of the captain, fearfully mangled by the 
ice; and as they composed the broken limbs for their last rest, 
Cameron took from the body a hidden belt, the few articles of 
daily use carried in the pockets, and cut a single lock of the 
still unsilvered hair. " These must be sent to his poor wife,” 
said Cameron, half sobbing; "and now we must give him a 
grave.” 

"We can’t do it alone,” said Rob sadly; "the Esquimaux 
always have to bury their dead under the rj>cks, and cover the 
rocks with sand. Then they pour on water and let it freeze, 
and the polar-bears can’t get through the frozen sand, for it 
8 






■. \ . - . r ' ; 




II4 DRIFTING ROUND THE 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 


wears out their claws. We must get the Esquimaux to help 
us.” 

Cameron consented, and tenderly and Christian-like, in spite 
of their savage mode of life, did their companions lay poor 
Clark away in a cleft of the rock, and secure his remains from 
fox and bear and wolf. Then kneeling, Pingeiak repeated the 
prescribed prayers of the Lutheran ritual for the dead, and all 
bowed their heads reverently around the stranger’s grave. 

Of their further adventures in Greenland, how they gave 
to the Esquimaux all that might be regained from the w Racer,” 
only stipulating for the decent burial of any bodies which 
might be recovered; of their long ride to Holsteinborg; of the 
great pyramids of deer-horns they passed on the road; of kindly 
treatment; and their eventual meeting with a Danish vessel 
bound homewards, in which they took passage, having first left 
at Fiskernaes and Godhavn letters to be sent by the first 
America-bound vessel touching at these ports, — we have 
not space to speak at length. 












A MOONLIGHT NIGHT. 


115 


CHAPTER IX. 

CLEAR OF THE ICE. -A MOONLIGHT NIGHT AND A MISTY 

MORNING. - MAN OVERBOARD. — AT THE PUMPS.- IN 

ICELAND. 

T HE little Danish bark "Nils Juel,” Hans Peterssen master, 
carried out of Fiskernaes and the lower Greenland settle¬ 
ments a valuable and highly odorous cargo of reindeer, bear, 
seal, fox, and other skins, and a large quantity of oil of various 
kinds. Besides these her narrow cabin was occupied by no 
less than a dozen passengers, including the widow of a Danish 
trader who, with her daughter and little son, were returning to 
Denmark. 

A continuation of mild, warm weather, and light easterly 
breezes left the coast unusually free of ice, and as they passed 
out by Cape Farewell they met a soft, warm wind from the 
south-west which seemed to promise a continuance of the 
almost perfect weather; and as the bark slowly glided over 
the glassy sea, in the soft moonlight of the short Arctic night, 
Cameron and Rob could scarcely tear themselves away from 
the scene, all the more that they were in all human proba¬ 
bility looking for the last time at the desolate shores of Green¬ 
land, which, like a dark wall tipped with everlasting snow, 
rose on the larboard quarter some ten miles off. 

" Queer weather, gentlemen,” said the little Danish cap¬ 
tain, as, clad almost to obesity in heavy woollens, he came 
out, with his huge pipe in full blast, for a last look at the skies 
before " turning in.” 


Il6 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

" A beautiful night,” said Cameron warmly. " It seems to 
me that I never saw a finer, or the moonlight so distinct and 
powerful.” 

" I’m not sure,” began Rob, and then stopped, for Peterssen 
had taken his pipe in hand and fixed his eyes upon him as if 
about to speak. 

" Go on, young sir,” said the Dane pleasantly. " Say what 
thou wert about to. \ would not interrupt.” 

" Well! ” said Rob, hesitatingly, " I do not know but I think 
’tis too fine to last.” 

"Well said, boy,” said Peterssen, in his quick impulsive 
way. "You’ll make a sailor, for this can’t last. Look how 
the air seems to tremble and quiver! See the ring that widens 
round the moon! Feel how the wind comes in flaws, and 
heavy with moisture! Ah, Mr. Cameron, you are not too 
sharp an observer.” 

Cameron looked around, and was startled to see what a- 
disenchantment the words of his companions had brought 
about; and even as he spoke a mere wreath of vapor, the 
ghost of a cloud, passed across the face of the moon. 

" And is that why you kept the men so busy to-day, repair¬ 
ing and tightening the rigging?” he asked. 

"Yes, sir; the 'Nils Juel’ is ready for a gale, and will be in 
one before to-morrow night, if I mistake not. But fear not; 
it will come on gradually, and we shall strip her inch by inch, 
getting all the easting we can before we have to lie to.” 

So saying, the little man finished his pipe; and after a word 
to the mate went below. But Cameron and Rob, though not 
really frightened, were ill pleased with the prospect of being 
cooped up in that close cabin with so many others during a 
long and severe storm. 

"Well, Rob,” said Cameron at last; "small as she is, the 
' Nils Juel ’ is bigger than the ' sea swans ’ and ' long dragons ? 



















































































































































Il8 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

of the Norsemen, who feared not, a thousand years ago, to pass 
from Europe to Iceland, and thence to these desolate shores.” 

" Have you any idea how big they were?” asked Rob. 

" There is said to be a good specimen of an ancient Norse 
ship still preserved in Norway, though I have never seen it; 
but, like all the old galleys or ships propelled alike by sails or 
oars, they were very narrow in proportion to their .length, and 
drew but little water. The old sagas tell of one whose keel 
was over one hundred and forty feet in length, and which had 
thirty-four rowing benches; and others, it is said, had forty, 
and even sixty, and carried two hundred men. They were 
capable of great speed in smooth water or before the wind, but 
must have been very uncomfortable in a storm.” 

" How were they rigged, and how could they keep the 
water out in a heavy gale?” 

"They carried low masts, spreading broad, low, lug, or 
square sails, the yard being lowered upon the deck when furl¬ 
ing canvas. The benches on which the rowers sat were 
between the bulwarks and the combings which surrounded 
the great open hold, in which were stowed quantities of 
ballast-stones of a convenient size for hurling in battle. On 
these were piled food and wine, bundles of javelins and arrows, 
and the spare arms and sea-chests of the crew. Over all, from 
combing to combing, spread heavy tarpaulings, supported by 
strong beams; and though the gangways might be full of 
water, no large quantity could get into the hold. Still, the 
'Nils Juel,’ small and crowded as she is, has comforts that the 
bold Norsemen had to forego in times of tempest.” 

" But how could men use such long and heavy oars as the 
large ships must have carried? I’ve seen pictures where they 
must have been at least thirty feet long, and large in pro¬ 
portion. 

"Well, I’m not certain,” replied Cameron; "but I’ve heard 



A HEAVY GALE. 


ll 9 

that the oars were balanced so nicely that the greater part of 
the strength of the rower was utilized in moving the vessel. 
But then, you know, they carried four and five men to each 
oar sometimes, and could handle sweeps of great weight by 
their united strength. 

" ’Tis a strange thought,” he continued, as the coast-line 
began to melt into the distance, "how those old pirates settled 
yonder in Greenland, and in the tenth century had become a 
numerous and contented people, with a score or more of set¬ 
tlements, an established church, and a civilization superior to 
that practically enjoyed by most sections of their native Europe. 
Then the wars of the eleventh century interpose between them 
a veil of blood and gloom; and when in the fifteenth the veil 
is torn away, the savage, the ' black death,’ and the horrors of 
arctic cold, have blotted out a people, and left a broad, blank 
space in the scroll of history. But come, Rob, let us to bed; 
for Greenland lies below the horizon, and it may be that we 
shall need rest but too soon.” 

Early the next morning Rob was somewhat unceremo¬ 
niously ejected from his place on the transom (for he had 
been unable to get a berth) by the sudden heeling of the 
bark as the wind shifted suddenly to the north-west, and 
struck her before the canvas could be materially reduced. 
Pulling on his moccasin-boots, Rob crawled on deck, and 
found the " Nils Juel ” nearly capsized, with two men at the 
wheel, and most of the men in the tops, trying to secure the 
sails, and lessen the dreadful strain on the trembling vessel. 
The mate stood bareheaded, axe in hand, by the fore-rigging, 
ready to cut away the masts; and Peterssen had just called to 
a seaman on the fore-yard to descend, when the blast for a 
moment lulled, the struggling ship emerged from the seas 
which had submerged her lower deck and bows, and, like a 
frightened bird, darted off before the storm. 


120 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


But although respited, the vessel was still in great danger, 
and the crew were again ordered aloft to take in all but the 
merest rag of sail under which the ship might run, until the 
seas became too dangerous. The man in the foretop had not 
reached the deck when he was ordered to retrace his steps; 
and being a Swedish sailor noted for courage and agility, was 
in the foretop-mast ratlines when a heavier blast struck the 
flying ship. How it happened, none ever knew. Rob saw 
him drop like a wounded bird from the shrouds; but in the 
fearful vortex of the ravening seas, none saw his face again, as 
in a moment he wgs left behind, a hopeless swimmer in the 
waste of waters. 

Peterssen rushed to the side, then as suddenly turned, 
dashed the starting tears from his eyes, and, encouraging his 
men, soon had his vessel under easy sail, although the sea, so 
calm a few hours ago, was rfeing with fearful rapidity. "We 
must lie to,” he cried in Cameron’s ear as he passed, " and that 
at once.” 

Half an hour later the "Nils Juel” lay with her bows to the 
wind, rising and sinking as the great seas alternately threw her 
to leeward upon their rushing crests, or left her in the abyss 
between a receding mass of eddying foam and a combing 
mountain of green water, whose foaming crest emerged from 
the misty drizzle like the break of a hidden rock in a starless 
night. 

" I like not the aspect of the seas,” said Peterssen in his 
over-precise English. "They break, break, break! all the 
time. If one should fairly board us, we are gone!” And as 
he spoke, the bark was tossed like a plaything an hundred 
yards to leeward, and then settled down in the dragging, 
seething, frothing ruins of a sea which filled the waist, and 
tore a couple of planks from the leeward bulwarks. 


OIL ON THE WATERS. 121 

" Another sea right on top of that would have ended her,” 
cried Peterssen, with compressed lips. 

" Have you ever tried a dribble of oil from the quarter?” 
shouted Cameron in his ear. ” I’ve seen it tried in boats when 
landing in a heavy surf.” 

Peterssen wrung his hand warmly. w The very thing! ” he 



LOST OVERBOARD. 

shouted; and calling to two men, sent them into the hold by 
way of the forecastle, from whence they emerged in a short 
time, carrying a dirty, greasy half barrel, which, with some 
difficulty, they managed to get aft and lashed on the lee quar¬ 
ter; and the carpenter, with a large gimlet, bored several small 
holes, from which tiny streams of oil spurted outboard into the 
sea. Instantly, a thin pellicle seemed to spread over the foam¬ 
ing waters; and as the ship drifted to leeward, the area of the 










122 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


" slick ” enlarged more and more, and the seas, entering upon 
its domain, became moving mountains of green water, instead 
of the towering heights of breaking foam which had so con¬ 
stantly threatened destruction to the laboring bark. 

"It will save us, sir,” said Peterssen, thankfully; "and the 
longer we drift, the less she will feel the seas. See how broad 
their tops have become of late; and she has taken aboard no 
water from the last three or four at least.” 

"Dank Gott! ” cried a burly Hollander, who had been one 
of the men sent to break out the oil from the hold, and who, 
like most sea-faring men, had grumbled at the unwonted task 
assigned him; but now he stood holding on by the rail, and 
watching the glassy surface stretching away into the fog to 
windward. 

He had abundant reason to thank God; for, growing wider 
and longer as the ship drifted before the storm, and, had the 
fog been lighter, Sharply to be defined amid the ocean of 
breaking surges, there was a belt of huge waves which moved 
forward terrible and threatening enough, it is true, but with no 
curling, foaming, thunderous crest of spray with which to fill 
the reeling deck, and bear down the hampered bows. 

"Better go below, sir,” said the captain, after both had 
watched for a time this magical and hopeful change. " She ’s 
dry as a bird now, and you’d better eat and sleep while you 
may. If nothing more happens, we shall only be driven almost 
up to Iceland by to-morrow; but if the leak gets worse , we 
shall need all hands at the pumps.” 

"Then there is a bad leak, captain?” said Cameron, with¬ 
out apparent disquietude. 

"Yes, sir; we are leaking now six hundred strokes an 
hour.” 

"Put Rob here and me on your force at once. We can at 


AT THE PUMPS. 


I23 


least rest two of your crew, who must labor and watch while 
we are sleeping.” 

"You are a man, and your companion needs only age to 
make him one,” said Peterssen, as he wrung the other’s hand; 
" but not a word yet to any others below.” 

Cameron and Rob changed their clothes for their Green¬ 
land outfit, and, after snatching a meal from the cold meats, 
bread and butter, and vegetables dispensed by the frightened 
steward, returned on deck, and took their places at the oppo¬ 
site brakes of the amidships’ pump. Peterssen watched them 
a moment, then taking out his watch, counted the strokes for 
several consecutive moments. Suddenly he turned as the car¬ 
penter drew near with a depressed and fearful expression of 
countenance that told but too well that the means thus far 
employed were not adequate to the task of freeing the laboring 
vessel. "Man the extra pumps! ” cried Peterssen to the mate, 
who evidently expected the order. "She’s leaking over a 
thousand strokes an hour.” 

All that night and the next day the storm continued, and 
all through its short period of darkness, as well as in the weird 
twilight of an Arctic summer night, the struggle for life went 
on with ever-lessening chances for the wearied crew and 
struggling ship. One by one the burly traders and pale stu¬ 
dents, ay, and even the great man of the cabin, the sub-inspector 
of some trading hamlet, had come on deck to join their efforts 
against the common enemy. And at last, when the cabin- 
floor became drenched and comfortless, the widow and her 
children came to the after pumps and labored until, as the 
night drew near, the mother turned away utterly despondent, 
while her daughter sank down by the swaying mast. 

" Get them below, sir,” said Peterssen, still strong and 
cheery despite his efforts and great peril. " Get them into 
the berths, and then come on deck as soon as you can. The 


124 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


gale has broken, and we must get before the wind for the 
nearest port, and that’s Reykjavik in Iceland.” 

Cameron nodded, and laid his hand on the lady’s arm. 
"Come,” he said gently. "You are cold and wet, and can do 
no more. We are going into port to repair, and you had better 
rest.” 

"You are deceiving me,” she said wildly. "I can die if 
I must, but not in that dark, wet cabin. If I and Gudrun and 
Snorri must die, let it be here in God’s open daylight.” 

"Be calm, dear lady,” said the naturalist. "You will only 
run more risk of being swept off if a sea should board us, and 
if anything does occur, you shall not be left below. Go for 
your children’s sake,” he added more gravely, " if not for your 
own.” 

As they went below, Peterssen, with compressed lips, took 
his trumpet and sent his men to their stations; and at a signal 
the reefed foresail was set, the jib hoisted and braced to wind¬ 
ward, and as the bows fell off before the gale, every man 
watched the coming seas, — clinging to the safety-lines as one 
after another surged up around the ship, or curled over bow 
and bulwark their crests of light foam. For a moment her 
deck was full of water, and all held their breath as the next sea 
came; but she shook herself clear, and the next moment was 
flying like a hunted deer before the seas, with two seamen at 
the wheel, both pumps driving at the rate of two thousand 
strokes an hour, and a fresh cask of oil running over the bows, 
which last alone, under God, kept the racing seas from hurling 
her over and over like a child’s toy, as she fled toward the har¬ 
bor of refuge. 

The night passed at length, and with the first light the crew 
saw through the dispersing mists and breaking clouds glimpses 
of lofty cliffs of black lava, jagged and time-worn, backed by 
eternal snows and engirdled by an ever-angry sea. " Thank 


THE ICELAND COAST 


I2 5 


God,” said Peterssen, with a little sob, " we shall be in port in 
an hour.” 

The "Nils Juel” passed the last fearful vortex where the nar- 



ON THE COAST OF ICELAND. 


rowing bay broke up the pursuing seas, and with lowered sails 
ran in among a score or more of French codfishers lying at 
anchor before Reykjavik. A convex shore, with hundreds of 


















126 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


long, narrow lishing-boats hauled up above the reach of the 
tide; beyond them a dingy straggling hamlet of ill-built houses 
and miserable huts, above which an ancient church and one 
or two quaint windmills alone gave some slight effect of height, 
and dignity in architecture; a lava-covered plain and boggy 
pond between it and the distant range of icy mountains, — this 
was Reykjavik: and yet the gates of Eden seemed scarcely a 
more charming asylum. 

The little bark came into the wind, the anchor plunged 
into the water, the great chain whizzed through the hawse-hole, 
and Captain Peterssen turned with a look of relief to his mate: 
" Jonassen, send ashore for twenty men, set them at the pumps, 
and let the crew sleep.” He would have said more, but fell 
swooning into Cameron’s arms. 

" Take him below, strip him, and put him between his 
blankets,” said Cameron quickly. " Don’t worry, men, he is 
only worn out, and I’ll see that the man who has saved our 
lives shall be about the decks as well as ever in two days at 
most.” 

All is done as he says. A large number of Danish sailors 
and Iceland fishermen come off to relieve the crew, and the 
crew and passengers of the bark, half stupefied with long toil 
and apprehension, crawl somehow to their berths, and are lost 
in unbroken sleep. 

For forty-eight hours thereafter the kindly Danish doctor 
and his assistant had charge of the crew and passengers, while 
stevedores and ship-carpenters repaired the hull and spars of 
the "Nils Juel”; but on the third day Cameron and Rob went 
ashore for the first time in the capital of Iceland. 


REYKJAVIK. 


127 


CHAPTER X. 

REYKJAVIK.-AN OLD FRIEND AND A DRUNKEN SERVANT.- 

OFF FOR THE GEYSERS.-FISH FODDER.-THE ROCK OF 

LAWS.-ENCAMPED AT THE GEYSERS.-THE STROKIR.- 

THE GREAT GEYSER.- RETURN TO REYKJAVIK.- SAIL 

FOR SCOTLAND. 

TT was early in the morning when they landed, or rather 
-*■ early in the day, for a few hours of twilight was all that 
reminded Rob that there was a night in Iceland as well as in 
dear old Massachusetts. 

Still, by the death-like stillness, the recumbent ponies, 
cows, and other animals on the pasture-lands around the 
lagoon back of the town, and the fishing-boats drawn up on 
the gravelly beach, it was easy to see that it was still within 
the time devoted to sleep in w the icy land.” 

Cameron and Rob had both brought ashore guns and 
fishing-tackle; for the former had retained on his person a 
money-belt with several hundreds of dollars in English bank¬ 
notes and gold, and had determined to employ the delay 
caused by the storm in visiting the principal wonders of that 
part of Iceland, and had easily prevailed on Rob to go with 
him. The latter, on landing, proceeded at once to inspect the 
Icelandic fishing-boat nearest him; and Cameron scanned with 
no little interest these peculiar craft. Long, narrow, and 
light, rather flat-bottomed, and with long, knife-like bows and 
sterns, they were evidently rather adapted for rowing than 
sailing, and for easy removal above the reach of the tide when 


128 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


not in use. Each could pull from five to eight long oars, and 
contained the hand-lines and other fishing-outfits of as many 
fishermen. 

These latter soon began to gather around the ancient 
fishing-rooms, curiously patched up of cheap timber, wreck¬ 
age, and drift-wood, which, painted for the most part a dismal 
black or dirty yellow, then lined the shore front of Reykjavik; 
and taking from thence boat-kegs, bait, nets, and other neces¬ 
sary parts of their equipment, gathered around their respective 
boats, and stowed their burdens away as snugly as possible. 

Our adventurers were quietly awaiting the launching of the 
boat nearest them, when suddenly each fisherman reverently 
bowed his head, and, holding his fisher’s hat before his face, 
joined in low tones in some form of adoration. A substantial- 
looking Icelander, wearing a pair of leather leggings instead of 
the long fishing-boots affected by the others, had hastily ap¬ 
proached, but at once joined in the general act of devotion. 

"Why do they pray here and at this time?” asked Rob, 
earnestly. 

" I’m sure I don’t know,” said Cameron, doubtfully. " I’ve 
seen something like it among the Canadian voyageurs; but 
these are good Lutherans for the most part.” 

" It is the custom of our Iceland men,” said the stranger, 
gravely, " to pray for success and safety ere they launch their 
boats upon the stormy waters. Is it not so with the English 
fishermen?” 

"I am no Englishman, sir,” said Cameron, lightly; "but I 
doubt much if such a scene can be noted anywhere else, or at 
least where the English tongue is spoken. ’Tis a fitting devo¬ 
tion and an impressive sight; but on our American shore, our 
boats would have been a good mile on their way to the 
grounds ere now.” 

"I hope never to see it forgotten here; for many a poor 


A DRUNKEN SERVANT. 


I29 


fisher’s funeral service has been said in the prayer he uttered 
ere going forth to face the ravenous seas. But have you seen 
an Englisher here — a serving-man? I should be even now 
on the road to Thingvalla, and we wait only for a fellow who 
is probably guzzling corn-brandy in some tavern.” 

"Perhaps that is the person you want?” said Cameron, 
pointing to the platform of a neighboring store-house, under 
which, flushed, bloated, and breathing stertorously, lay a well- 
built young fellow, dressed in a neatly-designed but sadly- 
bespattered livery. 

The Icelander strode forward, and unloosed the sleeper’s 
kerchief and vest, and tried to raise the insensible man to a 
sitting posture; but finding him limp and stupefied, turned to 
the companions. 

" Come, gentlemen, lend me a hand, and we will get this 
fellow to the hotel, and let his master see for himself that 
Eyvindar has not been to blame for the long delay. He won’t 
go until he knows where this fellow is, and I dare not leave 
him in this state, lest he die.” 

Cameron caught up a small bailer from the nearest boat, 
and, running down to the sea, filled it with cold sea-water, 
and returning, dashed it in the sleeper’s face.. He awoke at 
once with a start and a fierce growl; and under this stimulus he 
managed to stagger, assisted by the three, up through the lava- 
paved streets, and among irregular rows of hovels built largely 
of stone and turf, to the main entrance of the only hotel in the 
place. In front of it, a dozen pack and riding ponies were 
picketed by the simple process of tying the head of one to the 
tail of another. At the door, booted and spurred for a jour¬ 
ney, stood the gentleman who had hired the cavalcade, his 
firm but boyish face ablaze with anger and disgust. 

"Bring him in, Eyvindar!” he cried, angrily, as he recog¬ 
nized his unreliable lackey. ” Get the landlord to put him to 
9 


130 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD, 


bed, and we’ll start without him. Thanks, my good fellows,” 
he added to Eyvindar’s assistants. "Give them a dollar apiece, 
Eyvindar, and a glass of brandy, too, if they care for it.” 

"Not just after this bit of practical temperance teaching, 
Mr. William Augustus Harley,” cried Cameron, laughingly, 
much to the astonishment and discomfiture of the speaker, who 
promptly laid aside his air of petty importance, and, rushing 
down the steps, seized the speaker’s hand, and shook it like a 
pump-handle in hearty greeting. 

"Why, Cameron, old fellow, what brings you to Iceland? 
I thought you were up to your eyes in the dust of decaying 
birds and broken egg-shells at the old Smithsonian, and you 
appear as suddenly as one of Homer’s deities, in a panoply of 
pea-jacket and seal-skins. Have you come hither, at Baird’s 
instance, to prosecute a hopeless quest for the great Auk, or to 
wage a general war against the feathered creation?” 

"Neither, Harley,” replied Cameron, with mock gravity. 
" You see in me the * much-enduring Ulysses,’ fresh from the 
perils of the hollow seas and the persecutions of the gods. 
And this,” presenting Rob, " is my fellow-sufferer, friend, and 
follower— Robert Randall.” 

Harley, with a slight air of returning reserve, shook hands 
with Rob, and then turned again to Cameron. " I don’t quite 
understand you, Cameron; but you’ve mystified me so often 
that I know you can’t be hurried into an explanation. But 
come in to breakfast. I’ve sat down once, and couldn’t eat 
because I was so infernally mad at that unlucky Tom; but 
now we’ll have a regular set down, and discuss your story 
over eider eggs, coffee, skier cheese, and cold mutton.” With 
these words, the friends went in together; and as they break¬ 
fasted on the above and other toothsome Icelandic dainties, 
Cameron imparted to his old acquaintance (an attache of the 
British legation at Washington) a succinct account of the ad- 


AN OLD FRIEND. 


x 3 r 

venturous voyaging described in the preceding chapters. At 
the close of the narration, Harley insisted on shaking hands 
again with each of his guests. " Well, Cameron,” he declared, 
with a sigh, "you are always in luck. Now, I’ve been trav¬ 
elling a deal; but I never meet with any adventures, although 
I’ve spent thousands of dollars in going into all sorts of out-of- 
the-way places. I’ve crossed the Atlantic twice. Each time 
it was like a mill-pond, and we made the quickest passage of 
the season. I went hunting buffalo on the forks of the Repub¬ 
lican; my horse never stumbled or fell, and we never saw an 
Indian, except some who came to beg, although the spring 
before outrages were so frequent that everybody, when they 
got up in the morning, f sinched thar har down with a diamond 
hitch,’ as an old muleteer expressed it; that particular mode of 
fastening being considered the last and most secure of all 
appliances for fastening a clumsy load upon a balky mule in 
that section. • 

"I’ve done Italy, and smuggled in a brace of revolvers and 
a rifle-cane, but never saw a bandit. I went to Greece, but 
Phalerus Spartak? and Diomede Constans, and all the rest of 
those picturesque and avaricious Hellenic banditti, were no¬ 
where visible, though I took long walks alone, and they sent 
a wine-merchant’s ears into Athens as a kind of draft on his 
banker for twenty thousand drachmas. I tell you, I’m un¬ 
lucky, and the only thing I see any hope in is to get you to go 
with me, and I may see something out of the common, if I 
don’t really do it myself.” 

f "Well, Harley, if you desire our companionship, we shall 
be glad to be with you for a few days here in Iceland; for we 
came ashore this morning with the intention of making a trip 
to the Geysers.” 

"Good! And I am just ready to set out,” said Harley. 


13 2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


"Only I must wait, I suppose, for that beastly valet of mine, 
and he won’t be fit to travel to-day.” 

"Harley,” said Cameron, quickly, "will you let me tell you 
why you don’t have adventures, and why you don’t take the 
pleasure in travelling that you expect? ” 

"Why, of course, Cameron — of course,” said the young 
Englishman, a little surprised. " If you can tell me, out with 
it at once.” 

"Well, to be frank, you travel too much en grand seign - 
eur , as the French say. You had on your buffalo hunt, as 
I’ve been told, so many luxuries and followers that the Indian 
war-parties came in and told the old men that a 'big talk’ was 
to be held; for the poor creatures who ca,me to beg were only 
spies for scouting parties, who would have attacked you, 
undoubtedly, had you been accompanied by half a dozen men. 
How many ponies have you out here for your Geyser trip?” 

" Fourteen, I believe,” said Harley, coloring. "There’s two 
apiece for Eyvindar, Watts, my old gamekeeper, Tom, and 
myself. Then there’s two tents, a camp-stove, guns, valises, 
hampers, fishing-rods, a dry camera and plates, and a few 
other little things.” 

" That take six ponies to carry them,” said Cameron. 
"Well, Harley, let me manage this trip. Leave Tom here to 
sleep off his liquor, and I or Rob will be your valet in his 
place; and let me arrange matters according to my ideas of 
travel.” 

" Certainly, my boy! ” cried Harley, joyously. " I’m agreed; 
only don’t talk of being my valet. I hope I’m not so helpless 
as that would signify.” 

"Well, then, I suppose we must have two saddle-ponies 
each, and that disposes of ten of the fourteen. One tent should 
be enough for us all, and a tin cup, plate, knife and fork car¬ 
ried in our saddle-bags, and a pair of blankets strapped above 


OFF FOR THE GEYSERS. 


133 


them, is all that a man needs when he’s 'roughing it.’ Two 
ponies can carry the tent and provisions; our guns ought to go 
slung at our backs; and as to fishing-rods, they can go the 
same way. Two, at least, of the fourteen ponies are only a 
nuisance.” 

"Just as you say; and I know Eyvindar will be glad, for 
he didn’t want to use two of his animals, as they were galled 
on his last trip. When can you be ready to set out? ” 

"We are all ready now,” said Cameron, taking up a rather 
bulky haversack and slinging his rifle; while Rob did the same 
with a light fowling-piece purchased at Fiskernaes. "We are 
fixed as we stand for a week or ten days at least.” 

Harley stared, but turned at once to Eyvindar. "All ready, 
sir. You can leave the smallest tent and two of the horses. 
Tell Watts to take out spare stockings and shirts for us both, 
and leave the valises, putting the underclothing in the saddle¬ 
bags. We’ll be with you in five minutes.” And in rather 
less than double that space the little cavalcade of Iceland 
ponies, tied head and tail to prevent straying, were moving at 
an easy canter and in Indian file out of Reykjavik. 

The trail — for it was little else — passed for miles over 
rugged lava fjelds , dangerously fissured, and everywhere cov¬ 
ered with sharp points and edges, where the molten wave- 
crests had hardened into stone. A slight fog hid the more 
distant heights, and added to the feeling of chilliness; but all 
rode forward laughing and talking, except the grave Icelander, 
and Watfs, the old gamekeeper, who rode a very small and 
erratic pony, with his booted and spurred legs nearly touching 
the ground. 

Suddenly a confused quacking and flapping of wings was 
heard to the left; and as a flock of eider-ducks rose out of the 
sedges, Watts dropped his double-barrel into his outstretched 
left hand, and at the first report the great drake fell dead at 


i34 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


Eyvindar’s feet. The old gamekeeper was about to press the 
other trigger when the Icelander’s hand grasped the levelled 
barrels. "Nei, nei , madi /” he cried, forgetting in his haste 
that Watts knew no Icelandic; and leaping to the ground, he 
stuffed the dead bird into his saddle-bags just as a small caval¬ 
cade came around a curve of the trail. At the same moment 
a huge Icelandic falcon soared across the road, and Watts’s 
second barrel sent it fluttering down in front of the new¬ 
comers. 

"It is well,” said Eyvindar; "say nothing of the eider.” 
And running forward, he shook hands with the leader of the 
Icelanders, secured the bird, and, after a chatty interchange of 
news and compliments, ended the interview by the perform¬ 
ance of a ceremony surprising in the extreme to most of the 
party. 

From his pocket the strange Icelander produced what 
seemed to be a small powder-horn; and Eyvindar, with much 
care and deliberation, emptied a portion of its contents into 
either nostril, returning it to the stranger, who also proceeded, 
as Watts said, "to load ’isself up like a blarmed gun.” The 
sternutations which followed, however, showed that this was 
merely the national method of snuff-taking; and passing each 
other as carefully as possible, the respective cavalcades went 
on their several ways. 

"Pardon, sir,” said Eyvindar, after a few moments silence; 
"but at this season a fine of thirty Danish dollars is imposed 
on any one who kills an eider; for, as you know, we poor Ice¬ 
landers derive from their eggs and down no small part of the 
little we have to export.” 

"All right, Eyvindar,” said Harley, cheerily; "Watts didn’t 
know, and I was only kept from firing by my gun catching in 
a strap. But can’t we have any shooting at all, Eyvindar?” 


CURLEW SHOOTING. 135 

" Oh, yes, sir. There’ll be plovers and curlews among the 
bogs, and maybe a wild swan or two in the lakes.” 

Here they plunged into a peculiar bog or barren, sur¬ 
rounded by lava cliffs, but consisting of quaky turf and deep 
mud, from which uprose small hillocks or hummocks of vege¬ 
table fibre, two or three feet in height, the tops of which were 
covered with a thick growth of young grass. Crossing this 



A PUBLIC ROAD IN ICELAND. 


with great difficulty, the party were gladly ascending a barren 
plateau, when the distant whistle of a curlew was heard, and 
Rob instinctively jumped from his horse, dismounted, and, 
running down to the edge of the bog, crouched behind one of 
the tussocks on comparatively dry ground, and answered the 
quavering call. Watts and Harley had jerked their guns from 
the slings, and even Cameron put a shot cartridge in his short 
rifle-carbine, and saw, in answer to Rob’s perfect calling, a 





















136 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

flock of large gray curlew sweeping down across the moss. 
Wheeling inside of Rob, they were headed toward the party, 
when his light gun cut an opening through the living cloud, 
which, scattering at the flash, gathered together again just in 
time to receive the fire of the others, which proved so fatal 
that, including five killed by Rob, twelve fine birds were 
added to the load of one of the ponies. 

A short ride led the party between two ragged and beetling 
cliffs, whence, by a sudden descent, they entered the great and 
wonderful volcanic valley or fissure of Almannajau, or, as it 
was also called, Thingvalla, where for centuries the law-givers 
and law-breakers of Iceland had passed to judgment or to 
punishment terrible and merciless. The stones worn by the 
armed heels of their ponies could be seen thrown to one side 
in the construction of a smooth highway, and on the right the 
jagged wall of lava, eighty feet in height, ran four or five miles 
in a nearly direct line to the foot of the mountain ranges, 
where floods of molten lava had in cooling formed the huge 
crevasse . 

Passing onward about a mile, they crossed a river, which, 
bursting in a magnificent fall over the lava cliffs, ran down the 
fissure for a few hundred yards, and, breaking through the 
left-hand wall, rushed down toward the lake of Thingvalla. 

Beside this stream Cameron proposed that the party should 
drive; and the animals, being unpacked, were dismissed, with 
their bridle-reins simply thrown forward over their ears, and 
left trailing on the ground, which Eyvindar assured Harley 
was a sufficient hint to them that they were not to stray to any 
distance from the party. The guide then descended the val¬ 
ley, and in a short time returned with a few fagots of brush¬ 
wood; -while Cameron had unpacked the camp-kettles, and 
Rob had picked and prepared half a dozen birds for broiling. 
Choosing a flat depression in the lava, Cameron boiled his 


A JOLLY DINNER. 


T 37 


kettle and made coffee; then, sweeping the hot embers from 
the lava, laid his birds, duly seasoned, on the almost red-hot 
stone; and in a few moments the birds, nicely broiled, were 
ready for the party, who ate them with great relish while 
others were being cooked in the same manner. 

" Really, you know,” said Harley, " this is jolly, ever so 
much jollier than having a whole mule-load of dishes to wash 



THE ALMANNAJAU. 


up and put away. How is it that you Americans are up to 
this sort of thing, Cameron, — cooking on hot stones, and all 
that, you know? ” 

« Well,” said Cameron, " I learned of Rob here, who has 
been used to clam-bakes and corn-roasts, clam-chowders and 
broiled fish, all his life. Where he lives they get up picnics, 
where clams, oysters, fish, chickens, maize, potatoes, lobsters, 
and other things, piled on heated rocks and covered with sea- 









138 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


weed or freshly-mown grass, form the bill of fare almost 
exclusively.” 

" Really, Mr. Randall, I owe you a good dinner and a new 
idea in travelling resources. You seem to be as apt, too, with 
the gun as ingenious at preparing your game. Why did you 
whistle to the birds, though?” 

" Oh, we always do so at home. I can imitate almost any 
kind of plover that flies, and, if I had had some decoys, could 
have had that flock alight at half gunshot, they were so tame.” 

" Decoys! What are they? ” 

" Why, birds of painted tin or wood, which we stick in the 
ground where the birds haunt and fly through. Have you 
none in England?” 

"No, indeed. We have never learned that trick that I 
know of. But, come, Eyvindar; I suppose we must visit the 
place where the 'Althing’ once met, and be able to say that 
we have stood on the Logberg, and gazed down into the pit 
of doom.” 

" It is there, sir,” said Eyvindar, pointing off to the right 
across the valley beyond the parsonage and hut of Thingvalla. 
"I’ll be ready in a moment, as soon as I have helped honest 
Eric Gislasson yonder with our ponies.” 

So saying, the honest guide hastened to assist an aged man 
who had entered the valley while they were eating with six 
or eight ponies loaded with fish, one of which becoming 
frightened had distributed his load over an acre or more of the 
valley. Eyvindar’s ponies, seeing this, were actively picking 
up the scattered fish, devouring them with great gusto, and 
would soon have finished the major part of his load had not 
Eyvindar, followed by the rest of his party, come to his aid. 

Watts, however, was thunder-struck at the sight, and was 
seen several times to open the mouths and examine the teeth 


THE ROCK OF LAWS. 


139 


of the animals, being evidently doubtful whether these could 
be of purely equine descent. 

It’s all right, Watts,” said Harley at length; " they’re 
used to it, you know, here; for in the long winters the fodder 
often gives out, and the poor beasts would starve if they 
couldn’t eat fish, sea-weed, brush, or whatever can be got.” 

" Hit’s all right, I dare say, sir,” said the old man gruffly. 
w But you’ll pardon me if I don’t take to hany such furren 
notions or furren beasts. I declare I shall ’ardly dare to go 
near them, for fear one might want to heat me.” 

Passing the parsonage, the party ascended the widely- 
spread field of lava, near the edge of which two huge fissures, 
sixty or seventy feet in depth and at least half full of water, 
surrounded a peninsula from four to five hundred feet in 
length and sixty to seventy wide, while at its junction with 
the main plateau two men could barely pass. 

Crossing this narrow ridge, the party surveyed the bare 
lava platforms where eight centuries ago the people of Iceland 
gathered to make laws and to see them vindicated. 

" It was here,” said Eyvindar, " that all Iceland once met to 
trade and feast, and see justice done between man and man. 
This is the Logberg, where the judges sat, and accused and 
accuser stood in the sight of all men; and there,” he added, 
pointing to the pool beneath, " lie the bones of the unhappy 
men who were doomed to death.” 

" They gave them no time for prayer or repentance then,” 
said Cameron gravely. 

"It is said not,” said Eyvindar’s calm voice. "They were 
drowned like dogs, with a stone tied to their necks, to lie 
there in the clear water below, a warning to all men.” 

" Then down there below the second fall of the river,” he 
added, "in yonder foaming pool they drowned witches and 
other female culprits; and upon that patch of mud below it, 


140 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORL,D. 


many a duel with axe and sword has settled contention for¬ 
ever.” 

For a few moments all gazed in silence on the desolate but 
magnificent scene, so replete with thoughts the most grand and 
exciting. Before them lay the Ahnannajau , the All Men’s 
Valley, significant of a time when those masses of flinty 
lava were torrents of molten rock, from the distant Jokulls, 
now so cold and majestic in their mantle of eternal snow. 
Through its stupendous lower wall and over its upper preci¬ 
pices, leapt a river in flashing cascade and snowy falls; and 
around them the unbuilt capital of a nation, rendered immor¬ 
tal in song and saga, and more than all by its association with 
human passions and mortal suffering, enchained their thoughts, 
and gave to each countenance that grave, abstracted expres¬ 
sion which tells of emotion too deep for utterance. 

Without a word they turned to go, when Watts, whose 
face had been a perplexing study to his master, mechanically 
drew forth his watch and looked at its face. 

"Nine o’clock at night!” he ejaculated. "Well, well, ’tis 
a great thing to travel, and Hiceland is a wonderful country, 
I’m sure; but I prefer old Hengland yet. An’ as for your 
Logberg, give me a court-room in a country like this where 
a man, as you may say, ’as to live under a humberella.” 

Even Eyvindar, who in his heart would gladly have seen 
the primitive fashions restored, and who execrated the authors 
of the change which in 1800 removed the "Althing” to Reyk¬ 
javik, could not help joining in the laughter which replaced 
the strange and romantic associations awakened by the sur¬ 
vey of the desolate grandeur of Thingvalla and the " Rock 
of Laws.” 

But all were weary, and long ere the midnight twilight 
was at its deepest the tent was pitched, the horses secured, and 
fearless of harm or robbery, the party slept the sleep which 


AN ICELANDIC BREAKFAST. I4I 

follows coarse fare and violent exercise in the pure air of 
northern lands. 

Next morning an Icelandic breakfast of fried trout, hot 
coffee, skyr cheese, eider eggs, salted curds, and some curious 
cakes of a dark-colored bread had been prepared by Eyvindar? 
who had the night before hired a small boy to get the trout, 
and procured the cheese, eggs, and bread from the parsonage. 

Watts turned up his nose at the cheese, ate heartily of the 
trout, and seemed to relish the eggs; but when he tried the 
bread he inspected it curiously, took a mouthful, chewed a 
moment or two in solemn silence, and then disappeared and 
was heard coughing outside. When he returned, the cake he 
had held in his hand was missing, and the guide’s dog was 
chewing briskly outside. 

As he reached out his hand for some captain’s biscuit, he 
saw that the others were trying with no very decided success 
to eat the strange bread. " Perliteness is hall very well,” he 
broke out, " but the veat that that ere bread was made of wasn’t 
fit to heat. It must ’ave been smutted, ’cos v’y it’s so bitter and 
sticky like.” 

" It was made of good barley and moss,” said Eyvindar, a 
little nettled. " The good pastor would not send to strangers 
food unfit to eat.” 

"I don’t doubt it, Eyvindar,” said Harley, dryly, laying 
down his cake as he spoke; "but as horses eat fish here, it 
may be that the tastes of men are as curious in their way. Is 
the moss used in these excellent cakes from the sea, Eyvin¬ 
dar? ” 

"Why, Harley,” laughed Cameron, "you have certainly 
seen at the druggist’s the Iceland moss, sold now and then for 
blanc-manges and the like. Eyvindar here will tell you that 
this moss — and here is a bit at our very feet— is collected in 
vast quantities, both for food and exportation.” 


142 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


As he spoke, the naturalist pulled from the flat ledge on 
which the tent stood a tough, leathery lichen, of a greenish- 
brown color, such as many of our readers will remember to 
have seen on the ledges of New England and Canada; for the 
Lichen Islcindicus is no stranger in the.more northern lands 
of either hemisphere, and has been long known and prized in 
times of' famine by the Canadian voyageurs under, the name 
of tripe de roche . 

"Yes, sir,” said the guide simply. "In another month 
there will be hundreds of men, women, children, and ponies 
on the ledges of Skaaptur Fell, gathering moss for sale at 
Reykjavik, and their winter’s supply. We steep it in water to 
take away the bitter taste, dry and pound it finely to mix with 
barley and melur meal. Sometimes we boil it first in water, 
and then in milk sweetened and spiced, or perhaps in water 
with wine and nutmeg; and it makes a fine jelly, sir, — very 
good and nourishing.” 

" But what is melur meal, Eyvindar? ” asked Harley. 

"It is the seed of a coarse grass that grows in ravines,” 
said the Icelander. "We eat, too, angelica stems and roots, 
boiled with meat or butter, and some of the gentry make fine 
preserves of them also. We have but few plants useful to 
man; but if you could see the dyes and colors that some of the 
women make from the plants of the waste lands, you would 
say that we do our best with what God has given us. But 
come, sirs, we must be on our way to the Geysers; and if you 
please to call at the parsonage, the pastor will be glad to see 
you, and you can see a true Iceland tun , or country house.” 

Like the tun of Bjarg, there depicted, the parsonage of 
Thingvalla was a miniature hamlet of close-crowded huts, 
none of them over twelve or fifteen feet high, and built of a 
very little timber and a great deal of stone, and roofed and 
thatched with sods. A crooked and dark passage-way con- 


THE PARSONAGE. 


I 43 


nects these hovels, each of which constitutes a room of the 
conglomerated structure. The outer room and passage-way 
are hung with horse furniture and shoes, bundles of herbs, 
dried fish and moss, old clothing, shoes, and sheep-skins; and 
the kitchen, where an open fire poured* its smoke up a stone 



AN ICELANDIC COUNTRY HOUSE, BJARG. 


chimney, held, beside the pastor’s family, a brace of dogs and 
an ailing sheep with her twin lambs. In the room, or rather 
dormitory, assigned to travellers, a sofa, table, and a bed, or 
rather box, filled with a voluminous feather mattress, with a 
few Icelandic books, many of them very old, made up the fur¬ 
niture of this novel ” parlor.” 

The pastor, a strange-looking, shy, colorless, and white- 
haired old man, in an ill-fitting coat fastened by lapels across 
his breast, and wearing a scull-cap of black velvet, greeted the 
members of the party in Icelandic, which was translated some¬ 
thing as follows by Eyvindar: 








144 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


w He says you are all welcome to his house, gentlemen,, 
and is sorry that it is not a better one for your sakes. He 
offers you some coffee, but I tell him you have just break¬ 
fasted, and are going on to the Geysers. He wishes you God’s 
blessing on your journey, and invites you to call on your 
return.” 

With many a curious glance at the picturesque filth, dis¬ 
comfort, and poverty of the curious dwelling, the party took 
their leave, and were soon riding down the Almannajau 
toward the mountains. 

After a few miles of progress, however, Eyvindar led off 
across the lava fields; and amid scenery of the wildest and 
most chaotic desolation, the sure-footed ponies passed, now up 
jagged and broken steeps, where molten and plastic lava had 
hardened into the most fantastic forms, and again crossing 
fearful abysses by causeways only a few feet in width. All 
around them were grotesque yet startling resemblances of 
things animate and inanimate: truncated pyramids, with sides 
rounded by the lapse of ages; rounded and striated pebbles 
and boulders; gnarled roots and gigantic foliage; monstrous 
profiles, which, in the arctic night, might well appall the be¬ 
lated traveller; and even prostrate figures, which suggested 
the thought of the shrouded and contorted victims of the vast 
convulsion of nature which had produced so hideous and 
desolate a desert. 

Only on the right was there any vestige of nature’s beauty;, 
only the crystal lake, with its green border-lands and the ver¬ 
dant isles of Sandey and Vesey, the haunts of the skua gull, the 
wild swan, the piping plover and wild duck. Before them lay 
the terrible pass of the Hrafnajau, a congeries of vast fissures, 
crossed by a narrow and winding but colossal bridge, over 
which the little Iceland ponies bore the party safely; and at 
midday a halt was called in a verdant valley, where there was 


PTARMIGAN SHOOTING. 


H5 


plenty of coarse grass for the ponies, and even some extensive 
patches of brushwood, a rare thing indeed in Iceland. 

" There may be ptarmigan there,” cried Eyvindar as he 
unpacked his ponies and let them go loose to feed; "and 
ptarmigan, well cooked, would be very nice to-night at Lan- 
garfjal.” 

The listless and weary sportsmen at once " woke up,” as 



KITCHEN OF AN ICELAND HOUSE. 


Rob expressed it, and each, choosing his special direction, 
started from the centre of the valley to drive the scrubby Ice¬ 
landic forest, some of whose birches were even eight or nine 
feet high. 

Whir-r-r-r! whir-r-r-r! Rob fairly jumps into the air as 
tRe first ptarmigan bursts from its cover; but the second is 
steadily covered, and, as the smoke and fire leap from the 
muzzle of his piece, a handful of feathers streams down the 


10 














I46 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

cold north wind, and the stricken bird falls dead into the 
cover. 

"Well done, Rob! Ha! mark, Harley! ” cries Cameron, as 
a noble cock springs into the air behind his friend. But Har¬ 
ley drops a young poult as it flutters up before him, and turn¬ 
ing, with his second barrel bags the veteran with a good 
seventy-yard shot. 

Ah! what are those skurrying off through the underbrush 
in front of Watts? Cameron tries a shot at random, but only 
changes the direction of the unseen game, and Harley holds 
his fire, when a pair of blue foxes, evidently useless as trophies, 
with thin and lustreless pelts, emerge from the brush, and 
scamper off across the lava fjeld toward the friendly moun¬ 
tains. 

Watts smiled grimly, for he would have deemed himself 
and his trusty old-fashioned "Joe Manton” disgraced by shoot¬ 
ing a fox; for Harley and his man were denizens of a hunting 
county, and religiously believed that a fox should be hunted 
with " horse and hound and horn,” and not fall a victim to 
"villanous saltpetre.” He was rewarded for his forbearance; 
for three more ptarmigan got up before him, and he bagged 
them, killing two with his first barrel. 

"Well shot, Watts! Well done, old boy!” cried Harley 
as he slipped another brace of cartridges into his double barrel; 
but with the exception of one or two birds flushed at too great 
a distance, no more were to be got in that bit of arctic chap- 
paral. 

" I don’t ’old myself much hof a traveller,” growled Watts 
as he deposited his birds on the piled luggage. "An’ as for 
this bloody hisland, I don’t like hit much. Hits ’ouses are 
beastly, the ’orses hunnatural, an’ hits roads are ’orrible. ’Ow- 
sumever, I think that I might manage to hexist ’ere if so be I 
could get plenty o’ shooting like this.” 


ARRIVAL AT THE GEYSERS. I47 

Eyvindar for the first and only time showed something of 
the old Icelandic spirit of resentment at this reckless deprecia¬ 
tion of his native land. ” Shooting like this!” he said scorn- 
fully. ” Why, a month later than this, by Lake Myvatn, you 
may kill from fifty to a hundred birds a day; ay, and find 
scores ot reindeer feeding in the high grasses inland. Then, 
if you want salmon or trout or char, go to almost any river in 
Iceland, and fish until you are weary of sport. But come, 
gentlemen,” he continued, relapsing into his old, calm way; 
” we have a long road before us, and must make the Geysers 
to-night.” 



REINDEER. 


Three hours later a turn of the road brought the party to 
an elevated point from which a column of smoke or vapor 
could be discerned some ten miles away; and the announce¬ 
ment that it arose from the world-famous Geysers incited the 
travellers to more decided progress, and at about eight o’clock 
the ponies crossed a bog, and a mile farther on halted on a 
plateau of dry, reddish-yellow earth — a mere crust of burnt 
clay, sulphur incrustations, lava and rotten rock, and destitute 
of vegetation except where one or two patches of short grassy 
sod and moss offered a favorable camping-ground. Eyvindar 
began at once to prepare for supper and repose; but the others 
proceeded at once to explore this famous centre of volcanic 
action. 

Some forty hole-springs and fissures of various dimensions 
and shapes were counted, all of which contained hot water, 
and emitted whirling columns of vapor, but none of any size 









148 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


except the Strohkr and the Little and Great Geysers. The 
hissing of pent-up and escaping gases, the sound of subter¬ 
ranean reports like the thunder of far-off artillery, the whirling 
clouds of steam, the black lava fjelds , and the snowy moun¬ 
tain range in the background, with Mount Hecla towering 
above all, combined to inspire thoughts of awful interest in 
the minds of all, and even Watts forgot to cavil and grumble, 
and indeed he was afterwards heard to confess: "There’s a 
many as don’t believe in an ’ell, but I’ve naught to say sence I 
went with young squire to see they Geysers, for I’m main sure 
that there’s ’eat enough there to keep the ’ole of Hengland in 
’ot water.” 

Meanwhile Eyvindar had pitched the tent, while a bonder , 
or Icelandic farmer, who lived on the trail they had passed, 
had brought down a large pail of milk, a small jug of cream, 
and a broad-faced, white-headed and blue-eyed boy led 
behind him a very small pony with a top-heavy load of fagots. 
Seeing this, Rob hastened to build a fire, and at once set to 
work to prepare some ptarmigan for a broil. Just as he was 
about to loosen the first handful of feathers, however, Eyvin¬ 
dar laid aside the mattock with which he had cut a trench 
around the tent, and went to his assistance. 

"Let me scald them, young sir, and the feathers shall 
easily peel off and leave them clean and white. You shall say 
that you have made the waters of the Strohkr pick ptarmigan 
for you.” So saying, he caught up one of his packlines and 
looped the legs of half a dozen birds securely, then walked 
to a hole in the rocks about five feet in diameter, and like a 
funnel a little larger at the mouth than below. Twenty feet 
down' the hot water was whirling and boiling, and sending up 
voluminous clouds of hot steam and a slight odor of sulphur. 
Lowering the birds, Eyvindar allowed them to be tossed 
about for a couple of minutes, and then raised them thoroughly 


THE STROHKR. 


I 49 




soaked, and to a great extent bare of feathers. The guide 
insisted on finishing the processes of preparation, and Rob, 
with a little reluctant aid from Watts, built a fire of brush, to 
which he added some sods, which, almost wholly deprived of 
earth and moisture, and mere masses of vegetable fibre, soon 
furnished a mass of hot embers by whose heat he broiled a 
part of the birds; while Eyvindar, securing the others in a 
piece of netting, lowered them into a great boiling caldron, 
whose water, though scalding hot, was so clear and pure that 
he dipped from it the water for the coffee-pot, which he held 
immersed by a long handle until the beverage was drawn. 

It was nine o’clock when the party sat down to a bountiful 
supper of broiled and boiled ptarmigan, eggs, bread, milk and 
coffee; and at the close of the meal Eyvindar proposed that 
the party should collect sods around the mouth of the Strohkr, 
which is easily provoked into action by the presence of a dense 
mass of material of this kind. Indeed it is from the churning 
up of these bodies previous to an eruption that it gets its name 
of Strohkr, or " The Churn.” 

All joined in the work of collecting, cutting and carrying 
sods, and ere long a mass perhaps nearly a ton in weight was 
collected on the very verge of the chasm into which a few 
nervous and adroit pushes precipitated the rather heavy and 
indigestible meal, which, as Eyvindar gravely remarked, 
"would make him (the Strohkr) very seek.” 

For a few moments the sods were heard swashing to and 
fro, amid an ominous rumbling, which grew louder and louder 
as the moments passed away, while great clouds and whirling 
wreaths of sulphurous steam went up on the still air of the 
sunlit Arctic night. 

"Why don’t it boil up?” asked Rob, breaking the silence. 
" Haven’t we put enough sods in, Eyvindar?” 

"He’s getting very sick, sir,” said Eyvindar quietly; "he 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


150 



A TRUE 
MEERSCHAUM. 


will soon throw up in fine style now. Don’t go too near, sir,” 
he cried, as Watts, taking his pipe from his mouth, walked 
toward the orifice with his usual expression of dogged incre¬ 
dulity. " Look out, sir!” he repeated, as a roar like that of 
a subterranean furnace was succeeded by a burst of vapor, 
"you’ll be hurt if you stay there. He’ll throw up in a 
moment.” 

"Ugh! don’t ’umbug me,” said the old gamekeeper crustily, 
and emphasizing his remarks by waving his pipe, a true Vien¬ 
nese meerschaum, in the air. " Hit aren’t more 
than once in an ’undred years I’ve ’eard say that 
the blarmed thing goes hoff, an’ all we’ll see’ll be 
steam and vapor, I’ll lay a guinea to one of yer 
’orn buttons, Eyvindar. Good’evins! Ow! Ugh!” 
and poor Watts, covered with black water, was on 
his back a dozen paces from the Strohkr. 

An angry roar was heard, and a jet of broken, 
dirty water, tossing heavy sods like peas upon its resistless tor¬ 
rent, leaped seventy feet into mid-air, as if a thousand fountains 
had combined their myriad jets d'eau and mimic cascades in 
one tumultuous and glorious display of curbless force and 
splendor, and then the tremendous mass of blackened water 
and sodden turf fell in ruin in the hollow radius for fifty yards 
around the chasm, into whose angry jaws the seething flood 
retired, only to break out again and again with scarcely dimin¬ 
ished intensity. 

Watts had recovered his feet promptly, and for half an hour 
or more surveyed the wonderful spectacle in appreciative but 
sullen silence. At last, Eyvindar, with a touch of quick 
humor, addressed him. "Well, Mr. Watts, what think you 
now of the Strohkr? It was well for you that no one would 
take your wager of a guinea.” 

" Guinea! ” growled Watts, "guinea! I wish some one ’ad 


THE GAMEKEEPER’S STORY. 151 

taken the bet. ’Twould a’ sarved me right for a blarmed hold 
fool, as thinks there’s nothink hout of Hengland. I’ve got ’alf 
scalded, wet to the skin, and lost my pipe, as is down the 
Stoker by this time, halong ’ith a ton o’ them sods, I dare say.” 

The magnitude of the old man’s loss at once extinguished 
all feelings of triumph or resentment in the heart of the honest 
guide. " Have you lost that splendid pipe? What a misfor¬ 
tune ! But don’t despair. What the Strohkr swallows it 
throws out again, and your pipe will be somewhere outside 
the funnel before morning.” 

" That’s so,” said Cameron, " for it’s true sea-foam, and will 
float like cork. Don’t worry, Watts ; you’ll have another story 
to tell about it beside the way in which you earned it.” 

"Ah, sir,” said the gruff old fellow, blushing like a child; 
"the hold Squire as said hover-much about that little thing, 
and ’is son ’ere,” looking at Harley with gruff devotion, " ’ad 
ought to let by-gones be by-gones, an’ say no more about it.” 

"No! no!” said Cameron; "let us have the whole story, 
Harley, while we sit here watching the Strohkr. Perhaps the 
Great Geyser will take a fancy to make a display before we go 
to bed, and then we can leave early for Reykjavik.” 

" Come, Watts,” cried Harley, " give us the story, old fel¬ 
low. Don’t be bashful, for the family owe you more than we 
can ever repay you, and ’tis nothing to be ashamed of. Come, 
man,” he added, laughingly, "reel it off, or, as the sailors say, 
I’ll spin the yarn myself.” 

Watts hesitated a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and 
then replied with a kind of surly good-nature, "Well, Master 
Will, the story is a short un, an’ no great to tell any way, but 
if so be as the gentlemen wants it, I’ll do the best I can. 

" It was just ten seasons ago next September, as your father 
was inwited to take a cruise among the hislands of the north 
of Scotland, an’ Mr. Fortescue as married Miss Belle ’ad a yacht 


l 5 2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


of forty or fifty ton, built on an Hamerican moddle; ’an a purty 
thing she were, too, but hall on top of the watter. 

" One evening we were runnin’ in a fog, an’ trying to find a 
little cove in the Horkneys, for the fog was master thick, and 
you couldn’t see a good gun-shot ahead, when all of a sudden 
the quartermaster, as was forra’d, calls out, 'Breakers! ’Bout 
ship!’ an’ Mr. Fortescue, as was steerin’, brought her round 
like a top; but the Squire didn’t duck ’is ’ead quick enough, 
an’ next minute were out o’ sight a’most to leeward, as they 
call it. Mr. Fortescue let go the life-buoy as ’ung at the stern, 
an’ as soon as it touched the watter, a bright light began to 
burn at the hend of a little tube in the middle, an’ then we saw 
the Squire, but he seemed dead like, an’ lay on ’is back on’y 
just movin’ ’is harms an’ legs. 

" I jest threw hoff boots an’ coat, an’ swam to the buoy as 
was fast by a light line to the yacht, an’ as I got my harm 
around it, I ’ears them lowerin’ the boat; but though the Squire 
was on’y ten yards away from me, I ’ad ’ard work to get to him 
before he sank. As it was, ’is ’ead was hunder w^atter afore I 
grabbed ’im. 

w He was all right, though, next day, an’ never said nothin’ 
but ' Thank you, Watts,’ until we were ’ome again, and Chris’- 
mas came round. Then I got that pipe in a velvet case, ’ith a 
hunder-pound note stuffed in the bowl, an’ a werse o’ Scripter 
an’ a silver plate set in the meershaam, as they call it.” 

w What was the verse, Mr. Watts?” asked Rob, eagerly. 

Another eruption of the obstructed Strohkr was heralded 
by the roaring of the escaping steam through the subterranean 
caverns below them, and as the inky water and floating clods 
shot up into mid-heaven, a sudden squall blew down the valley 
from the gorges of the mountains. Despite its power, the 
watery column maintained its elevation, but swayed to and fro 
like an oak-tree in a tempest; and as if to make the resem- 






\ * 
















































































































154 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


blance more striking, great masses of spray and whirling sods 
were blown toward the party, drenching the ground near them 
with water, and strewing the ground with debris, which would 
no longer be swept back into the abyss. 

The eruption ended, and Rob, jumping up, darted for¬ 
ward, for a glittering object lay amid the sodden turf, and 
a moment later he returned with the restored pipe, which, 
although thoroughly washed and emptied, had sustained no 
further damage. 

" Read the inscription, Rob,” said Cameron, as the boy, 
holding the little silver shield to the setting sun, traced out the 
delicately engraved legend. 

" From William Harley, Esquire, to John Watts. Dec. 25, 
1855. 'Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down 
his life for his friend/ ” 

"John hasn’t told you,” said Harley, " that the accident 
took place close in shore, when a heavy sea was setting them 
in against a rocky and inaccessible shore; and that, after they 
hauled both in by the buoy-line, they had to let their boat go to 
save the sloop, so close were they to the shore, and so heavy 
the sea.” 

" Let be,” said the old gamekeeper, gruffly. " Squire took 
me out o’ the slums o’ Whitechapel, and made me fust herrand- 
boy an’ at last gamekeeper, an’ I know he’d do as much for 
me as I did for ’im. I would rather ha’ died than go back an’ 
tell Missus that Squire ’ad been drownded in my sight.” 

That night the wearied party slept soundly, undisturbed 
by the Great Geyser; but the next morning, as they sat at 
breakfast, a subterranean roar like the booming of distant can¬ 
non was heard, which at each moment grew louder and louder, 
accompanied by a rushing sound as of distant waters. Eyvin- 
dar sprang to his feet. "See! see!” he cried. "Behold the 
Great Geyser! ” 


From the small orifice the pellucid water was slowly rising 
into the oval basin, until a pool some fifty feet across was 



THE GREAT GEYSER. 


formed, from the centre of which burst clouds of steam and 
jets of a few feet in height, accompanied by dull, heavy reports 
like those of siege artillery. Yet several hours passed away, 
and no more striking phenomena followed, and the various 














156 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

members of the party whiled away the time in collecting the 
incrustations of the basins, including geyserite, sulphur, cal- 
cite, and other products of the geyser waters, and in noting the 
increasing violence of the ebullitions. 

But about the middle of the day the signal-guns began to 
grow louder and more numerous, the earth trembled with the 
force of the obstructed waters forcing their way to the surface, 
and suddenly from the centre of the pool the huge jet shot up 
higher and higher at each second, as a pulsating artery throws 
its jet of blood when wounded. Ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, 
sixty feet, the huge column shot into the air, taking the shape 
of a huge weeping-willow, and sending out glittering streams 
and gleaming showers of spray, which fell into the pool to go 
hissing down into the steaming fissures, while the sun lit up 
each glassy column, transparent jet, and iris-hued cloud of 
spray, and the subterranean thunders and constant trembling 
of the earth gave to the beauty of the geyser a terrible signifi¬ 
cance of the power of God and the weakness of man. 

Soon, however, the great column wavered arid fell in ruin; 
the pool, with a great swirl, was lost in cavernous chasms 
through which burst the last fierce puff of scalding steam, 
which on the warm southerly breeze was wafted up the slopes 
and rugged acclivities of the Langarfjal. The eruption of the 
Great Geyser was over. 

An hour later the cavalcade was journeying toward Reyk¬ 
javik, and late that night they encamped near the pass of the 
Almannajau, by the falls of the Axara. 

Harley and Cameron had wandered off from the rest, and, 
sitting near the cascade, were watching the waters as they 
curled over the brink, like liquid glass, only to fall in foam on 
the black rocks below. 

"And so you cannot join me,” said Harley, at length, in a 
tone of disappointment. 


A GENEROUS OFFER. 


157 

" No, Will, though you know I should be delighted to go 
on such a jaunt; and, above all, I should enjoy a visit to your 
home at the grand old manor-house. I must be in Washington 
by November; and I must make the best of my misfortunes by 
collecting what I may here in Iceland. Perhaps I may even 
capture the almost mythical Great Auk.” 

"And your American protege? ” said Harley, carelessly. 

"Well, of course, I shall help the poor boy home. And, 
by the way, as you leave for Scotland, perhaps you will take 
the necessary funds and get him a steerage passage home, from 
Leith or Liverpool. I am sorry he has had such hard luck, 
for he is an orphan, and had hopes of making enough on our 
fatal trip to support and educate himself during the coming 
winter.” 

" I’ll do better than that,” said Harley, impulsively. " He’s 
a good shot, and you say a thorough boatman, and as much of 
a gentleman, by George, as most of our set. Pll hire him as a 
companion, treat him like a gentleman, and pay him, beside 
board and clothes, a valet’s wages — say sixty pounds a year. 
What do you think, old fellow?” 

" Think! why that you’re a trump,” said Cameron, heartily. 
"And indeed, Will, you couldn’t do better, for Rob, under¬ 
neath his quiet, simple exterior, has a self-reliance and honest 
fearlessness that you may depend upon in any emergency. 
Only,” said Cameron, smiling, " you will have the same com¬ 
plaint to make of him that you do of me.” 

"Sol I thought of that; and between ourselves,” con¬ 
tinued Harley, more seriously, " I don’t feel as I did about this 
constant beer and wine drinking to which we have been accus¬ 
tomed. So Rob shall do as he likes, for all of me or mine.” 

On their return to Reykjavik, as the steamer for Leith was 
not due for several days, excursions were made to other won¬ 
ders of Icelandic scenery, among other places to Mount Hecla, 


158 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

from whose top, five thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
they looked down upon fifteen hundred square miles or more 



CAVE OF STURTSHELLIOR. 


of a land wonderful in its desolate grandeur, rifted by convul¬ 
sions, furrowed by crater chasms and lava ridges, traversed 
by rushing torrents, — here white with eternal ice, and there 



















"WONDERS OF ICELAND. 


159 


purple with flowering heather, again green with willowy grasses 
and Liiiputian forests of willow, fir, and birch. Around all, 
below cliffs of black lava, lay the summer sea, dotted with the 
French ships, busy on the distant banks. 

The cave of Sturtshellior—once the fabled abode of Surtur, 
the demon who, in the dread hereafter, is to destroy the uni¬ 
verse with fire, and in later years the abode of bands of out¬ 
laws, whose annals are the Sagas beloved by every Icelander — 
is a wonderful cavern evidently of volcanic origin, lit only by 
the rays of light admitted through a long circular tunnel 
which reaches the upper air at an angle of about forty-five 
degrees. Here, after the death of the ” Cavemen,” their fifteen 
brides — acquired, as the legends say, by the murder of their 
mother — fought with the slayers of their bandit husbands, until 
overcome by numbers. Although a gloomy, the party found 
it a dry and warm domicile, and doubtless in by-gone days it 
has witnessed many a wild scene of reckless jollity and 
drunken orgy. 

But at last the long-expected steamer made her appearance, 
and a few days later Rob, who had gladly taken Mr. Harley’s 
kind offer, bade adieu to the captain of the ” Nils Juel,” now 
almost repaired and ready to sail for Denmark, and to Cam¬ 
eron, who was about to extend his adventurous ornithological 
researches into the remotest wilds of a country alike deserving 
of both its names of “the Land of Ice” and “the Island of Fire.” 

Harley, Watts and Rob steamed away in the “Arcturus” 
towards the Shetlands, passing many a fishing vessel — among 
others a French vessel on board which a huge shark was being 
hauled. Soon the “ Mealsack,” an isolated crag in the sea, was 
passed, and the group of Westuran Islands appeared, and the 
steamer proceeded on her way to the Faroe Islands. The Shet¬ 
lands were passed the noon of the day after leaving the Faroes, 
and the following morning the Arcturus made fast to the 


i6o 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


wharf at Grangemouth, on the Frith of Forth in Scotland; 
and taking the first train, the party went up to Edinburgh, 
from whence Rob wrote home to Wreck Cove, detailing his 
varied experiences and new prospects. 

"Tell dear May,” he concluded, "that I am sorry that she 
will be disappointed in my coming home this fall; but I am 
never likely to have so good a chance to see the world again* 
We go from here to several points in Scotland, where friends 
of Mr. Harley are stopping; then in September to the moors 
and forests of the Highlands, where we are to kill grouse and 
deer if we have good luck; and then to Mr. Harley’s home in 
Lincolnshire to spend Christmas and a part at least of the 
winter. Then we set out on a long tour as they call it, which 
will end, I hope, in bringing us back to Wreck Cove, having 
first crossed both oceans and come away round the great 
world. 

"You must not think that you or any of the girls will have 
a chance to catch Mr. Harley; for though he is only twenty- 
two, he is already engaged to a Miss Fortescue, his brother-in- 
law’s sister; and we go to Oban, on the west coast of Scotland, 
to meet Mr. Fortescue, who is to take us to the Highlands 
shooting. Miss Fortescue is very pretty, if I can tell by a 
photograph; but Mr. Harley, I guess, does not care a great 
deal about her, for he talks only of gunning, fishing, and trav¬ 
elling, and says that it is 'only a family arrangement made 
when they were both children.’ 

" But remember me to all the boys and girls, and kiss 
grandma and grandpa for me. I will send them some money 
by next mail to help pay that old mortgage. Write soon, and 
believe me ever, Your loving brother, "Rob.” 

A delightful month was passed by the party in Scotland 
under the guidance of Mr. Fortescue, who joined them at 
Edinburgh. 





i 
















































































































T.; 






























- : , 


. 





























*>■ >> 

. 




- 

' i ^ \ 





















. 


•\ 









V' 


- 











- 






























































- 


>’ - 














TO THE BORDER 


I63 



CHAPTER XI. 

SOUTHWARD. - HARVEST-DAYS. - THE GYPSY CAMP. - A 

STRANGE RACE.-A ROYAL PALACE.-QUEEN PHILIPPA. 

-KING ARTHUR AND KING ALFRED.-ATHELNEY AND 

AVALON. - MERRY CHRISTMAS. - PUNT-SHOOTING. - A 

YANKEE RIG. 

T HE buckwheat stems lay red as blood on the narrow fields, 
the barefoot Scottish lassies were binding the ” golden 
bear,” i . e . barley, as by way of Culloden, the last of civil battle¬ 



fields on English ground, they sought a way through Perth¬ 
shire, Fife, and East Lothian to the border and English soil. 
Many a strange and impressive scene greeted the eye in 

















; 

164 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

their wanderings, — the ruins of feudal power, where, on rocky 
island and lofty promontory, stood ruined castle-wall and 
dungeon-keep; the quaint fishing-towns along the coast, with 
their outlandish dress, queer customs, and peculiar language; 
and the no less interesting associations, antiquities, and inhabi¬ 
tants of w the border.” 

They visited Abbotsford, the splendid residence of Scott, and 
Melrose Abbey, still in its desolation a very marvel of Gothic 



FAST CASTLE, EAST LOTHIAN. 


architecture, and famous as the burial-place of many a Scottish 
noble, and of the heart of the Bruce, which, after many strange 
chances of storm and battle, failing to reach the Holy Sepul¬ 
chre, was deposited here to mingle with the soil which the 
brave king had freed from English oppression. 

Carlisle, on the border, omce the stronghold of the English 
Wardens, defended by wall, moat, and gates, and accessible 
only by drawbridges, is now a quiet manufacturing town. Its 
chief interest in story is the frequency of political executions 
at this point, especially during the eighteenth century, and 









CARLISLE WALL. EXECUTION OF MACIVOR. 



. . . - - • 




GYPSIES. 


exemplified by Sir Walter Scott in his first great novel of 
" Waverley.” 

Riding eastward to Newcastle, they for the first time 
encountered those curious people called gypsies; once the 
object of continual persecution in England under the name of 
Egyptians, and in other countries in Europe butchered by 
hundreds and hung by scores as "heathen,” "infidels,” ma¬ 
gicians, thieves, and whatsoever else of evil savor might be 


attributed to human kind. Not but that the imputation of 
knavery is seldom undeserved by this strange people; but like 
other semi-barbarous peoples, they have had to bear more than 
their own proper share of obloquy. 

It was in a wooded nook of the hills that our travellers first 
came upon them, or rather upon their camp, tenanted only by 
women and children, while half a dozen goats fed a hundred 
yards away, watched by two tawny, dark-eyed girls wearing 
bright-red hoods over their long, blue-black hair. 

" They’re a bad lot they,” said their Northumbrian driver. 
"Black Tom the feyther’s a poacher, an’ owd Betty’s a witch, 





DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


166 


they seyn, an’ a cheat anyhow; an’ they two girls yender ha’ 
towd more lies to young lads an’ lasses aboot theyn woives an’ 
husbands than yow’d ever believe.” 

" Let’s have our fortunes told,” said Harley, laughing. 
As he spoke, the girls rose from their reclining position 
on the grassy hillside, and walked with a singularly graceful 
and erect carriage to the roadside. 

w Hester, the gentlemen want theyn fortunes towd,” cried 
the driver to the eldest, a tall, straight-featured girl of eighteen 



or twenty, with half melancholy but classical features. She 
took Fortescue’s hand and held out her own, into which he 
dropped a half-crown piece, which she passed to her com¬ 


panion 


She glanced over the intricate lines of the hand, and sharply 
scanned the handsome features of Mr. Fortescue, and then 
spoke as follows: " Your fortune has been good health, good 
friends, and good living. Friends have been kind and love 
fortunate. What more do you want of fortune?” 

" Wh*t is my sweetheart like?” asked he, curiously. 


“ My love is young and fair 
My love has golden hair, 






FORTUNE-TELLING. 


167 


And eyes so blue and heart so true, 

There’s none with her compare,” 

sang the gypsy in a low, musical voice. Fortescue laughed 
happily. "And what is to come?” he inquired. 

The gypsy’s face darkened. " He who is fortunate can 
ask for little beyond long life.” 

"And that,” said Fortescue, pleasantly, "we must all leave 
in the hands of God.” 

Harley "crossed the hand” of the girl with silver, and with 
a light laugh the gypsy spoke: 

"With you, too, good-fortune hath dwelt; but you will 
have many and long journeys and many dangers. Your love 
has dark hair and eyes, and will love you far more than you do 
her. You will meet her in the south ere a year and a day go 
past.” 

"And you, Rob,” said Fortescue, kindly, as he tossed 
another piece to the gypsy, who stepped deftly around to the 
side of the carriage where he sat. She evidently was some¬ 
what at fault, and perused hand, figure, dress, and face with 
many sudden and keen, yet never impudent glances. 

" You have been poor, and have toiled hard,” she said at 
length; "but you are a gentleman’s son, and have counted 
yourself a man, though a boy in years. You, too, have seen 
danger and wanderings, and will see more; and you will have 
good fortune, finding what you seek. You have crossed the 
sea, and will again.” 

"And his sweetheart,” said Harley, lightly, — "what is she 
to be, and where is she now?” 

"Beyond the sea,” said the fortune-teller. "And she is 
neither light nor dark, black or blue-eyed, but nearly his own 
height, and has brown hair and gray eyes. She has nothing to 
give him but love and goodness and a true heart.” 

A shot pealed through the woods ahead, and drew off the 


168 drifting round the world. 

attention of the listeners for a moment, and the gypsy whis¬ 
pered, "You know whom I mean,” and, with a little laugh, 
darted away without further words. 

The driver went on, and from time to time pointed out the 
various localities famous in ancient song and legend, which 
abound in the border counties of Cumberland, the scene of 
Scott’s " Rokeby and Bridal of Triermain; ” and Northumber¬ 
land, where Danish Si ward Biorn once fought against Mac¬ 
beth, and Percy led his English bowmen to die at Chevy 
Chace in that fierce and desperate battle of Otterburne. 

By lonely fells where the brooks splashed down the heav¬ 
ily-wooded ravines, where oft the ranger with bow and quar¬ 
ter-staff had sought the slayers of the red deer, often as stout 
of heart and skilful of hand as he, the herding sheep or wan¬ 
dering goats were the only living things that greeted the eyes 
of the travellers, though oft far off amid the coppiced birches 
on the craggy hillside, or on the narrow points of some border 
river, were ruins which, if endued with speech, could have 
told of feudal pomp and pride, and the wars of Norman, 
Saxon, Celt and Dane, and even of the ordered tents and 
regular fortress encampments of the Roman legion. 

In the woods the leaves were already turning with the 
early frosts, the dense hazel coppices hung down their slender 
branches heavy with clustering nuts, and once they heard afar 
off the bell-like cry of the slow-hounds, and saw the border- 
hunters on either side of a deep and wooded valley hunting 
down the doomed fox, with gun and mattock, for - it is only in 
the level counties of England that a fox must be killed with 
horse and hound. 

At Newcastle they found little but a city of coal-carriers 
and dealers, except a good night’s rest and an opportunity to 
see the beginning of an easterly storm which interrupted their 
journey southward and drove half a dozen colliers and fishing- 








V ; 











































































































































































I 7° DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

busses ashore between Newcastle and Tynemouth. Then the 
great lifeboat was drawn along the quays, and launched with 
its crew of brave and well-trained oarsmen, while from the 
points nearest the distressed vessels signal rockets hissed into 
the clouded night, and bonfires lit up the foggy darkness to 
inspire with hope, or guide to the safest landing, the venturous 
boat, or possibly w some strong swimmer in his agony.” 



BY-WAY IN YORKSHIRE. 


And Fortescue, Harley, and Rob won golden opinions 
among the throng that gathered along the cliffs which trend 
eastward to Tynemouth, for the eagerness and humanity with 
which they helped to succor the saved, and comfort those who 
had seen the savings of years go down into the resistless seas, 
and with many kind wishes their landlord and his amphibious 
patrons bade them good-by, as they drove away on their tour 
into Yorkshire and down the coast. 

The country became more open and less hilly, as crossing 
Tyne at Gateshead they rode to Durham, where they stopped 
to visit an ancient cathedral, and crossed the Wear at Neville’s 










DOWN THE COAST. 



Cross, once the scene of a great battle between the English 
and Scotch, in which the latter were defeated. The road 
wound less frequently through the narrow passes of the hills, 
and the open moors grew wider and wider between the lines 
of low and wooded eminences which bounded them. 

Reaching the 
Tees at Barnard 
Castle, the river 
was crossed by a 
handsome mar¬ 
ble bridge, from 
which a splendid 
view of the ruins 
of the stronghold 
of the Baliol 
family, famous, 
or rather infam¬ 
ous, as pretend¬ 
ers to the Scot¬ 
tish throne un¬ 
der the first and 
third Edwards, 
was obtained. 

" Richard the 
Third is said to 
have occupied it 
against the Lan- trying for a supper. 

castrians,” said Fortescue to his companions, "and Sir Harry 
Vane in after years held it for Cromwell against the king.” 

"Yon’s a great rabbit warren,” suddenly broke in the 
driver, pointing to a bare hillside a few hundred yards away; 
" and there’s a fox a-layin’ un’er the wa’, an’ going tu get un 
for sooper. Eh! just see how un lies, as if a’ were dead! ” 








IJ2 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


The top of the eminence lay covered with short grass, and 
enclosed by a broken wall, in a gap of which, crouching amid 
some rank herbage, Reynard lay crouched for the fatal spring. 
Half a dozen rabbits were lazily feeding near him, moving 
spasmodically about with a clumsy, hopping gait and gradually 
working nearer the fatal ambush. At last they could see the 
tall ears of the nearest flicking the gnats away not half a dozen 
yards from the fox, and then a slight movement covered the 
hare from view, though evidently still nearer than before. 

A streak of reddish light crossed the broken march-wall, 
and in a moment the fox returned, bringing a young leveret in 
his jaws, but seeing the carriage drawing nearer, he hurried 
and made for the nearest coppice, between which and the 
marauder ran a second wall. But just as he topped it a shot 
rang out of the cover, and as they drove on, a gamekeeper was 
seen to emerge from the cover and pick up the fox and his 
victim. 

From Barnard Castle by easy stages Yorkshire was trav¬ 
ersed, a day being given to York and its famous cathedral or 
minster, considered one of the finest in the world. Begun in 
the seventh century and finished in the thirteenth and four¬ 
teenth, it is a vast and imposing edifice, and combines several 
distinct orders of architecture of the most massive and striking 
description. The city itself is said to have been founded over 
1600 years ago, and has been the scene of many famous events, 
being among other things one of the last English towns sur¬ 
rendered to William the Norman. 

The next day a carriage was taken, and after an hours ride 
through varied scenery, a long bare moor was reached, famous 
in history under the name of Marston Moor as the scene of 
the most disastrous defeat suffered by the hapless Charles I. 
For in 1644 York, then held for the king by the Earl of New¬ 
castle with a force of 10,000, was besieged by Sir Thomas 


MARSTON MOOR. 


173 


Fairfax with the Parliamentary army, and the Earl of Leven 
with his Scottish Covenanters. But not only were they unable 
to take the city, but the appearance of Prince Rupert with an 
army of 20,000 men compelled the besiegers to retreat to this 
moor, where, on the third day of July, a pitched battle was 
fought, in which the opposing forces, being nearly equal, num¬ 
bered at least 60,000 men of all arms. Rupert and Goring, 
who commanded the king’s left wing and centre, carried all 
before them and pursued the dispersed Roundheads and Scots 
many miles, with great slaughter; but Cromwell and Fairfax 
defeated the right wing of the king’s army and then fell on the 
scattered horse and foot of the victorious Rupert, who appeared, 
when all was over on the field, with about 2000 horse, too 
much exhausted to attempt to retrieve a field snatched from 
him in the very moment of victory. 

But now it was only a bare moor, where as it happened 
that day a grouse-drive was in progress; and as the scene was 
an uncommon one, the driver was ordered to drive down 
toward that part of the moor where the shooting stations were 
built. These were circular enclosures of turf, about four or 
five feet high, on which the heather, broom and whortleberry 
bushes are allowed to grow, until the station becomes a mere 
clump of bushes and herbage undistinguishable from the simp 
lar copses and thickets of the moor. A line of these, some 
seventy yards apart, were occupied by the sportsmen; and 
through their opera or rather field glasses, the line of game- 
keepers and beaters could be seen a couple of miles away, just 
beginning to drive the birds toward the concealed marksmen. 

w There a’ be, sir! ” said the driver, suddenly, as a little cloud 
of smoke covered from view a part of the scattered line of 
beaters, and a tiny report came across the barrens to their ears. 
It was scarcely a minute later that two or three swiftly-moving 
specks are seen approaching, and almost before one could 


174 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


think the leading cock is heading for the central station at the 
rate of an hundred miles an hour. Bang! The reddish feath¬ 
ers torn from his breast drift away on the still air, as the dead 
bird, as if sent from a sling, parts the dwarfed bushes above 
the sportsman’s head; and as the second barrel speaks, the next 
bird, shot in the head, towers heavenward for fifty feet until, 
falling over backward, it flutters down into the broom an hun¬ 
dred rods to leeward. 

A covey, or " pack,” as it is locally called, of fifty or an 
hundred birds, now started up across the moor in front of the 
beaters, and, joined by scattering birds as they bore down 
across the moor, were a few seconds under the fire of the 
concealed sportsman. For the next half-hour a rattling fusil¬ 
lade was kept up, the breechloaders being discharged as fast 
as they could be reloaded; for as the line advanced, the birds, 
flushed and frightened, followed their companions already upon 
the wing, and, escaping from the fire of the beaters, flew across 
the stations in such blind haste that more than once the birds 
were seen to just top the bushes around the concealed marks¬ 
man. 

But as the line of tired beaters came within a few gunshots, 
a new variety of sport presented itself, for plover, snipe, and 
curlew came behind the shyer grouse, and rabbits made their 
last timid rush from the approaching beaters to fall amid the 
dead and dying birds in the open belt around the stations. 

" That’s a mighty good idea,” said Rob, approvingly, as the 
sportsmen joined the keepers to pick up the wounded and 
dying birds. "Why don’t you try it in the Highlands, Mr. 
Fortescue? ” 

"It is exciting and murderous,” laughed Fortescue; "but 
I don’t count my success as measured by the mere number of 
grouse I pick up, but by the skill, endurance, and judgment 
shown in tramping over the moors, approaching and flushing 


i75 


"only a barren moor.” 

the birds, killing surely and quickly, and above all studying 
the wild life and glorious scenery of the wilderness.” 

"Your lease doesn’t allow this kind of shooting, does it?” 
asked Harley, as they drove slowly down the York road. 

"No; it is seldom used except in Yorkshire and Lanca¬ 
shire, and is better adapted to supplying a market demand than 
to the needs of true sport, although none can deny that he 
must be a crack shot who can kill with both barrels in the 
heat and flurry of a grouse-drive.” 

On the edge of the moor they halted a moment, and cast a 
long last look over the sea of green brackens, golden gorse, 
and purple heather, amid which here and there a huge gray 
lichen-incrusted boulder rose like an island out of a sea of 
blooms; and far away through the open defiles amid the foot¬ 
hills the hollow moaning of the distant sea came telling of its 
past anger and dying fury. 

"Only a barren moor,” said Fortescue, lifting his hat as he 
spoke, " and yet the blood of seven thousand brave men, two 
centuries ago, dyed its mosses and enriched its soil, baptizing 
it with a renown that will endure in story when York Minster 
has fallen into dust.” 

" But it should be accursed in our eyes,” said Harley hotly, 
"for this defeat ruined the king and laid his head on the 
scaffold.” 

" Our ancestors both fought for him,” said Fortescue, 
gravely, "but in my own mind I have often doubted if it 
were not well for the English people and their rulers that 
even so terrible an experience should teach kings, princes, and 
prelates, that only in justice, mercy, and faithful service in 
their high calling, can they hope for the love and support of 
the people of England. King Charles was false to his prom¬ 
ises, and despised the remonstrances of his people, and he 
' 16 


176 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


paid the dreadful penalty, but the lesson will never need to be 
repeated in England.” 

A day or two later they were traversing the country once 
known as Barnsdale Forest, having driven over from Sheffield, 
famous for cutlery since the time of Edward the Monk King. 



SHERWOOD FOREST AND SWINEHERD. 


Here and in merry Sherwood had such free souls as Here- 
ward, the son of Leofric, bidden defiance to the Norman tyrant, 
and killing w the king’s reeves ” and living on ” the king’s deer ” 
kept alive the spirit of Saxon and Danish liberty, albeit out of 
law and under the ban of the Church. 

Here and there they saw huge oaks such as Scott describes 
in Ivanhoe, and many are known to have gained little in size 
since the days of the great Civil War, over two centuries 
before. Great hollies with their dark green and prickly ever¬ 
green leaves; tall beeches, the resort of squirrels and wood- 




* J 

BARNSDALE FOREST. J 77 

peckers; and thick copses of hazel, ash, and birches, gave at 
many points scenes of forest beauty and grandeur which irre¬ 
sistibly recalled the greatest and best-remembered names of 
England’s long and stirring history. 

" Here,” said Mr. Fortescue, as they entered the shire of 
Nottingham, "and in the county we have just left, English civ- 



A SAXON BANqUET-HALL. 


ilization had not conquered the primeval forest, when William 
the Conqueror, although holding the sea-coast and large towns, 
could not restrain such men as still clung to Saxon manners or 
Danish customs sufficiently to give up the rude palaces of those 
days for the ruder comforts of a forest-home. 

" So far inland, the thane who dared no longer openly defy 
the great Norman lived comparatively unvexed by Norman 
greed and suspicion, and, it is probable, viewed with compla¬ 
cency, if not with actual favor, the spoiling of priest and noble 
by the banditti of the forest, who in after }^ears were to give 
to legendary history such characters as Robin Hood, Friar 
Tuck, and Little John.” 


























. 

178 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

"Did such a man as Robin Hood really live here?” asked 
Rob. 

"There can be but little doubt that a man of that name 
dwelt in Nottinghamshire during the reign of Edward II., and 

actually took service 
under him for some 
time, as is related at 
length in one of the 
many ballads extant, 
and corroborated by 
the Exchequer ac¬ 
counts of that year. 
It is now believed 
that he was a yeo¬ 
man, or small farm¬ 
er, who took sides 
with the defeated 
Lancastrians in the 
Wars of the Roses; 
and we may believe 
him to be a veritable 
historical character, 
who carried on a 
guerilla warfare in 
these then almost un¬ 
inhabited forests.” 

From Nottinghamshire the party descended into the fens 
of Lincolnshire, where already teal and duck and widgeon had 
made their appearance on their way southward; and during 
the three weeks which they remained there, Rob saw many 
novel and unaccustomed modes of approaching, capturing, and 
killing wild fowl. 

By daylight, the scenery was tame and rather depressing ta 






THE FENS OF LINCOLNSHIRE. 


179 


eyes just from the grand, romantic, and varied scenery of the 
north; and the long levels of reclaimed low-lying soil, the 
withering beds of flag and rushes, the areas of shaky bog, and 
the huge mud banks, laid bare at each ebb, often veiled in a 
dark and ghostly fog or heavy drizzle, were sights of which 
our travellers could scarcely fail to tire. 

But they saw the great decoys, like an immense tunnel of 
netting, into which, by trained dogs and ingenious reliance on 
the curiosity of the various kinds of water-fowl, as many as ten 
thousand head 
of widgeon, teal, 
mallard, black 
and other ducks, 
have been taken 
in a single year. 

And they never 
tired of watch¬ 
ing the first cu¬ 
rious but suspi¬ 
cious approach, 
attracted by the 
strange antics of 

, . , IN THE MERE. 

the trained span- 

iels, which placed the doomed fowl under the netted tunnel into 
whose intricate windings and fatal " purse ” they were after¬ 
wards helplessly driven. 

Sometimes, too, furnished with a kind of wooden snow- 
shoe, they traversed the bogs and marshes, having good sport 
among the snipe and plover, and seeing many strange expe¬ 
riences among the peculiar people of the Fens; and in the 
shallow boats used in the great meres they sailed many miles, 
now driving before a fair wind across shallows where they slid 
over the muddy ooze, and again bursting through beds of flag, 









l8o DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

bulrush, and osier willow, while at every turn some strange 
bird or curious denizen of the fen fell to their guns, or feasted 
their wondering eyes. 

But most of all they enjoyed the meres during the moon¬ 
lit autumn nights, when the magical light made the waters a 
sheet of silver, the wooded islands a dream of enchantment, and 
even the reed ronds and dying flags a scene of rare and delicate 
beauty. On such nights they manned two punts, carrying each 
a huge boat-gun in all things shaped like an ordinary ducking- 
gun, except that the stock was fearfully short in proportion tG 
the other parts of the piece. The largest of these Brobding- 
nagian weapons weighed one hundred and ten pounds, had a 
ten-foot barrel of one and a half inches bore, and was habitu¬ 
ally loaded with fifty drachms of powder and a pound of shot. 
A strong swivel, with a powerful spring to back up the recoil, 
secured the gun in the bow of the punt, which, by means of a 
small pair of sculls, was propelled towards the feeding-places 
of the birds. Taking care to work towards the moonlight, the 
sportsmen noiselessly traversed the meres, hearing on every 
hand the gabble of feeding ducks, the squeaking of the swim¬ 
ming water-rat, the call of the grebe and loon, the boom of the 
bittern, and the plaintive cry of the night-heron. Rob, who 
was allowed to go with one of the most noted of the local 
punt-shooters, crouched low in the stern behind his companion, 
and, leaving his gun supported across his knees, gave himself 
up to the study of his comrade’s dexterity and knowledge of 
the game. Noiselessly plying his tiny sculls, and as much as 
might be, following the course of the flood-tide, he would 
sweep along shaded banks of rush and reed, over shallows 
showing white in the moonlight, or the deeper channels dark 
with dancing water; while on every hand the saucy " quack, 
quack!” of the wild-duck, the soft "wheow, wheow!” of the 
widgeon, mingled with the wailing whistle of the plover and 




PUNT-SHOOTING 


8 


the mournful cry of the curlew, while the full-toned "frank! ” 
of the heron, wading noiselessly over the shallows, told of a 
suspicion that all was not as it should be. 

At last the oars are used only to guide the drifting boat, a 
squeeze of the leg warns Rob to be ready, and, just peering 
above the gunwale, the young American sees a huge, black 
mass in the middle of the white water into which they are 
drifting. It is a flock of widgeon "on their last legs,” as the 
fen-men say, that is just able to stand upon the mud bank with- 



A MOONLIT MERE. 


out swimming; and as Rob noiselessly cocks his gun, he sees 
his companion press the huge boat-gun to his shoulder, and 
train its huge muzzle on the motionless birds. A tremendous 
report which rolls far up the river and across the lonely meres, 
a confused splashing in the water, and a whir of wings, amid 
which Rob’s light gun breaks in with a double volley, sends 
scores of single birds and small flocks into the moonlight air, 
but they whiz by and overhead without notice. 

"Let un be,” said old Bettis as Rob, hastily reloading, was 
about to fire at a passing widgeon. "Let un be. There’s 
plenty for us to do yonder to get all our birds; for there’s a 
mort [many] o’ em sewerly.” 







182 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


And he was right, for at least fifty had fallen; and Rob 
fired again and again at ducks seemingly in articulo mortis , 
which dived and flew with astonishing and unexpected readi¬ 
ness when the two sportsmen began to pick up the dead and 
wounded. 

In other reaches of the meres they heard from time to time 
the thunderous reports of the guns of other hunters; but at last 
all was still, and they glided on in an inland sea, where, amid 
reed and flag, the calls of the wild-fowl kept up a wild, sweet 
murmur of happy converse, broken now and then by an alarmed 
”quack, quack! ” as some timorous drake started up close to 
the drifting craft. 

"Quite, lad; quite!” said old Bettis at last under his breath. 
w There be a wonderful lot up yander, sewerly. I think it be 
a gaggle o’ geese, though it be a bit early; but we’ll try it, 
anyhow.” 

So saying, the old fowler plied his noiseless oars, setting the 
punt nearer in to the shore; and the tide slowly drifted them 
past tree and bush and osier hummock until the birds, a black, 
unshapen mass, were scarce a gunshot away. w Now, lad, let 
I first, an’ then thou.” And Bettis swung the heavy piece 
noiselessly, and looked deliberately along the whitened sights. 

Rob was waiting for the roar and the rush of the fatal hail, 
when a ray of moonlight penetrated a rift of a drifting cloud, 
and fell full upon the object of Bettis’s deadly aim. " Good¬ 
ness! ” said he, swinging the heavy muzzle into the air; w it be 
young parson i’ his punt, an’ I took he for geese. It’s a mercy 
I waited a bit to see the heads o’ they, or he’d had been rid¬ 
dled like a sieve.” 

This finished the night’s sport; but the young curate had 
great reason to thank God, as he did in fitting words in the 
village church the next Sunday, that the heavy charge of large 
shot was so providentially prevented from executing its deadly 


A "STALKING-HORSE.” 183 

mission by that little ray of moonlight; for in darkness the rule 
must be to fire as soon as the object can be clearly distin¬ 
guished and covered. 

Rob went several times with old Bettis afterwards, and had 
many pleasant talks with the old fensman about the various 
methods of taking fowl. He saw the old man one day use a 
' stalking-horse ” in approaching a flock of teal feeding near 
the border of the mere, where no other cover was procurable, 



DECOY SHOOTING. 


a device in use for over a thousand years. Bettis used his old 
white pony, crouching behind its shoulder while the horse fed 
nearer and nearer the doomed birds. It was a curious sight to 
see how the old horse quietly munched the short grass, ever 
stepping stealthily toward the water, and evidently almost as 
anxious to get within easy shot as his master with his ready 
double-barrel; and when the deadly volley was fired from over 
his withers, he stood as unconcernedly as if he had been the 
great wooden horse of Troy itself. 

But in return, Rob had to impart to these new acquaint¬ 
ances the fowling-lore of his own land. How the gunners of 
Scituate and Rockport lie all day in their boats where the 




184 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


Atlantic breakers sweep under and past them to break into 
foam on the cliffs to leeward, shooting the migrating coots that 
swoop down to their lures of mimic fowl of wood, canvas, 
cork, and tin; and how on many a point in stands of brush 
and turf, by means of similar decoys, almost all kinds of 
plover and water-fowl are beguiled within reach of the leaden 
shower. 

"Why,” said he, "Tom Holmes, who went down into the 
North Bay mackereling, told me that he had seen the Micmacs 
shoot geese and ducks on the barrens with decoys made of 
burnt sticks for the head and neck, bodies of brown turf or 
sea-wrack, and a collar of birch-bark for the white markings 
of the neck and breast. He said he saw them kill several 
once, calling the birds down right among the decoys in broad 
daylight. 

"That mun do for they Yankee ducks,” said Bettis a little 
maliciously; "but I’d like to see they Nicknacks or a Yankee 
get our ducks wi’ such trash.” 

Bob saw a pile of dry, brown turfs piled up for the winter’s 
firing, and resented the challenge at once. " I’ll bet I’ll get a 
brace of ducks on that shallow to-night if it’s moonlight,” he 
said, pointing to a tiny islet of reeds surrounded by large shal¬ 
lows. " Let me have the little punt and some of those peats, 
and I’ll try it, anyhow.” 

"Nonsense!” said Fortescue, who was listening; "don’t 
waste time on such trash. I’ll lay a guinea to a shilling that 
you don’t get a feather.” 

"I don’t bet,” said Rob quietly; "but I think you’ll lose, 
especially as the birds have never been decoyed here. I’d like 
to try, if Mr. Harley has no objection.” 

"None in life,” said Harley, suddenly. "Fortescue,” he 
added, "I’ll take your bet one to twenty-one that he gets three 


A YANKEE RIG. 185 

good shots if it’s moonlight. I vow I’ll go with him myself, 
and let you and Bettis have the punting to yourselves.” 

"All right,” replied he. "I’ll make it pounds, five to one 
you don’t have three fair shots. Of course you may get one 
by chance, or even two; but I’m sure you can’t get birds here 
in that way.” 

Rob at once set to work and hunted up some crooked 
sticks, which he rudely shaped like a duck’s head and neck, 
and blackened by scorching over a fire. 'I hen he cut as many 
of the long turfs into some resemblance t ) the bodies of the 
fowl, and, going with Harley just at nightfall, they rowed 
across, and set the rude decoys in the oozy puddles on the 
islet, and shoved their boat into the reed-rond at half gunshot. 
Shortly after, Bettis and Fortescue passed with the punts, the 
former sarcastically smiling, but the latter rather startled on 
seeing how life-like the decoys looked in the soft moonlight; 
but they were soon lost from view around a bend of the 
lagoon, and the young men were left alone. 

Suddenly a flock of teal dropped close alongside the de¬ 
coys, before either of the hunters could discern their approach, 
and with their little necks outstretched reconnoitred the mo¬ 
tionless things which looked so much like mallard, but never 
moved or uttered sound. Then the close-lying little beauties 
were swept out of existence by the guns of the hidden sports¬ 
men, and, pushing out into the ooze, they picked up five of 
these miniature mallard. 

" Well done, by Jove! ” cried Harley, as he shoved a fresh 
cartridge into the discharged tube. "Hist! what’s this?” and, 
as he spoke, a number of dark shadows moved swiftly in over 
the decoys, and, as Harley’s knee struck against a loose oar, 
towered over their heads, giving them a splendid double shot. 
"Bang! bang! bang! bang!”—the echoes caught up the 
sound and sent it back across the shallows, while into the boat 


l86 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

and the reeds and surrounding water fell a half score of plump 
widgeon. 

This was their most successful shot of the night; but every 
now and then, in the pale moonlight, a single drake would 
circle overhead, or a pair of black ducks drop into the mere 
within shot, and when the great guns of the hunters roared 
afar off, they were almost sure to have the scattered survivor* 
pass overhead, or try to alight amid the decoys, only to meet 
death from the well-aimed guns of the ambushed gunners. 

At midnight the friends rowed home, surfeited with sport 
and as they drew into the landing, Bettis came slowly in, pull¬ 
ing hard against the flood. 

"What luck, Bettis?” asked Harley, languidly. 

" Oh, poor enough, but better than you, sewerly. On’y a 
dozen widgeon an’ mallard, for the ould gun missed fire up on 
Long Reach, an’ I wouldn’t go furder. Did you get a burd, 
sir? ” 

"Here’s our game,” said Harley; "hang it up with yours, 
will you?” 

"The land sake!” exclaimed the old man. "Who iver 
saw the loike? Well, I’ll say naught of Yankees after this. 
A good two score burds ye’ll have here, sirs?” 

"Just thirty duck and a few curlew and plover, with a big 
heron; and I’ve a notion that I rather like the shooting better 
than punting.” 

"Ye’ve won five pound, any way,” said Bettis, “ and I’ve 
larned summat, after bein’ a fowler, man an’ boy, vor vorty 
year, come Christmas.” And the old fowler proceeded to put 
up the boats and carry the fowl to the boat-house, in which 
latter task Rob assisted. 

" Have ye any other sleights for taking fowl in America?” 
he asked, as the two went slowly up to the hall. 

"Yes; we have little punts, such as we call gunning-floats, 


TO ELY. 


187 


which we trim with grass or paint white when the ice is in the 
harbors. These we scull up to the fowl, with a crooked oar 
passed over the left shoulder and through a hole in the stem 
of the float. These are used by day as much as by night, and 
a great many fowl are killed by skilful gunners.” 

” Well, young sir, I’m sorry ye are goin’ away so soon, an’ 
mayhap ye’ll be up here again i’ the winter; but this I’ll say, 



A GUNNING-FLOAT. 

ye’re a perfect gentleman, an’ a sure hand at fowl. An’ old 
Bettis can say no more vor any man, an’ he were an earl.” 

After many pleasant experiences the travellers passed on 
through the Fens to Ely, famous as the location of an ancient 
abbey, and, more than all, as the scene of a desperate defence 
made against William the Norman by Abbot Thurstan and 
Hereward the son of Leofric, who for seven years set at 
naught the whole power of the Conqueror, who exhausted all 
his skill in warfare, and only succeeded through the treachery 
of the monks, who took advantage of the absence of Here¬ 
ward and many of the fighting men to deliver up the island. 
They found it some fourteen miles long, and situated in the 




i88 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


midst of levels of deep alluvial soil, which have been re¬ 
claimed from the fens by draining. 

" Here,” said Fortescue, as they surveyed the ancient chan¬ 
cel, " Canute, the greatest of all the kings before the Conquest 
except Alfred, heard the monks singing so sweetly that his 
mail-clad rovers stopped to listen, and he was fain to land and 
greet them in all kindness of heart; and thereafter the once 
cruel and merciless Dane ruled wisely and well, rebuking the 
wicked pride and deceitful flattery of his courtiers, as doubt¬ 
less you have all read in your school days.” 

" I’ve always thought that that story of his rebuking his 
courtiers when they called him lord of the sea, by sitting in 
the way of the tide, was a childish idea any way, and hardly 
worthy of repeating,” said Harley, a little scornfully. 

"The men of those days were children mentally,” said 
Fortescue, gravely. " It is hard for us to understand how 
childish those fierce, brave pagans were. Odin, their greatest 
deity, was a chief of the HCsir, canonized after death, and it 
was no unlikely thing that the great Canute should in his turn 
become a deity to his followers. So superstitious that their 
bravest deemed a storm the result of a witch’s muttering 
cantrips; so passionate that often in battle they threw off their 
armor to rush upon the spears of their enemies; so reckless 
that murder and rapine dims the fame of every leader whose 
name is handed down in rune and saga, — it was a wise and a 
noble thing in King Canute to teach his house-carles, or body¬ 
guard, that there was One mightier than he.” 

A day was passed in and about the ancient minster, and 
also in observing the drains, ditches, dikes, and water-gates 
which keep out the water from the reclaimed fens; and as 
they strolled along the green dike-banks, faced here and there 
with heavy timbers or massive masonry, under the shadow of 
the willows whose roots helped to bind together the thick 















































































































190 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

mounds, they talked of Hereward, who had so nobly fought 
the Norman invader, and his noble wife Torfrida, who had 
prayed and wept within these sacred walls during the fears 
and hopes, the counsels and the dangers, of years of siege and 
battle. 

"It seems almost utterly wrong,” said Harley, who had 
been reading Kingsley’s Last of the English , that, after all, 
monkish treachery and Norman guile should have opened this 


DIKE BANK. 

retreat to the invader, and that so many brave Englishmen 
should be given up to their enemies at last.” 

" It is hard for us to reconcile such events with our sense 
of justice at first; and yet the Norman conquest, wicked 
and indefensible in itself, was finally the means of building up 
a race whose combined valor, toil, and wisdom have distanced 
every competitor. Do you think that the Saxon, caring only 
for gross living and greed, or the Dane, whose heaven was an 
elysium of fighting, feasting, and hunting, could have built up 
such a civilization without the Norman love of cleanliness, 
education, taste, liberty, and religion? 

"No,” he continued. "We bewail the changes made by 







HEREWARD AND TORFRIDA, igi 

death and time, forgetting that, had all lived since the creation, 
the world would now bear a burden of humanity larger than 
its own bulk, and that, like the dwellings we live in, our civil¬ 
ization is founded on the ruins of what in its time was the 
highest joy of its possessors. Hereward and Torfrida were 
brave and noble beings; but they could never have conquered 
the Norman, nor, if they had, could they have accomplished 
the greater task of raising a people to that higher life to which, 
through much tribulation, their seeming ruin led the way.” 

" That is the way with us in America, sir,” said Rob, tim¬ 
idly. "We could never have been rid of slavery without the 
war, so grandfather says.” 



THE FEN LANDS. 


"Yes, my boy,” said Fortescue. "And so may the South¬ 
erners say of slavery that through it Africa will be led to a like 
experience, although it seems so great an iniquity.” 

" I heard grandfather say once that in France they made a 
great thief the chief of police, and that he was the best they 
ever had; but I don’t think that the good he did ever took 
away the disgrace of his evil life,” said Rob. 

"No,” said Fortescue; "I don’t think that the result justi¬ 
fies the means, and agree with you that all injustice must meet 
its due reward. But when we think how Leofric, Earl of Mer¬ 
cia, had here only a few hundreds of monks and fenmen, and 
that the Lord of Rulos in the fourth generation brought Nor¬ 
man enterprise to bear on this boggy soil, so that now six 
17 








192 


DRIFTING ROUND tHE WORLD. 



thousand people live here in comfort on this little island alone, 
we can’t regret the decay of the Saxon and Danish dynasties. 

Then across the fertile levels of the ancient fens, now rough 
with golden stubble or green and red with the after-math of 

succulent clover, 
went on to 
Cambridge, and, 
spending only a few 
hours in that ancient 
seat of learning and 
city of splendid stee¬ 
ples, they took the 
night-train for Lon¬ 
don, where a stay of 
several days enabled 
Rob to see some of 
the sights of the great 
metropolis. Of 
course they visited 
the Tower, that pile 
of the composite ar¬ 
chitecture of Nor¬ 
man, Saxon, Dane, 
and, it is averred, 
, whose history is so full of human crime, treachery, 
and suffering that its repetition would be intolerable, save that 
great and good men and noble women have there prepared for 
the patriot’s fate and the martyr’s crown. 

Rob saw the rooms where Sir Walter Raleigh, the favorite 
and faithful servitor af “ good Queen Bess,” spent thirteen 
long years under the displeasure of her successor, where he 
planned his disastrous voyage to Guiana, and where he came 
back to harsher imprisonment and an undeserved death. 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



ESCAPE OF LORD NITHSDALE FROM THE TOWER, 





































































































































194 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


Here, too, Sir Thomas More had come in through the 
ominous traitor’s gate to find that an upright life and a " con¬ 
science void of offence ” are often fatal possessions. And here, 
im 1716, Lord Nithsdale, doomed to the block for appearing in 
arms for King James, under the Earl of Mar, was saved by the 
coolness and devotion of his wife, who, with a very tall female 
companion, sought his cell, and in her exit took her husband 
out in female apparel, he concealing his face as if overcome with 
sorrow; the only instance, it is said, where a political prisoner 
of any eminence thus cheated the Tower executioner. 

In the armory, half a day was spent in examining the 
curious and varied weapons which represent every phase of 
English warfare for over eight hundred years. The long-bow 
and its cloth-yard shafts; the Saxon sceax , or short-curved 
falchion; the Danish battle-axe; the long, trenchant cross- 
handled blades used by the Crusaders; the arbalest, or cross¬ 
bow, heavy and clumsy, but of tremendous power; with 
daggers, halberds, lances, maces, dirks, bayonets, and sabres, 
— represented every cutting or piercing weapon from the 
rudely-cast bronze sword to the wonderful blades of Damascus 
and Toledo. 

There, too, were suits of armor which had once clothed 
half the dead kings and chiefest knights of England; and as 
Rob gazed and thought, Richard the Lion-hearted seemed not 
so long dead; and as he lingered behind the loud-voiced crowd 
of sight-seers, he almost deemed that the Black Prince might 
again speak from the bars of his hollow helmet. 

Indeed, he was quite startled when Mr. Fortescue’s hand 
was laid upon his shoulder, and the young officer asked him 
what a Yankee boy cared about Cceur-de-Leon and the Black 
Prince. 

"Why, Mr. Fortescue,” laughed Rob, "we think those 
old Englishmen just as much ours as yours; and as for me, 


IN THE TOWER. 


195 


I’ve fairly felt bad sometimes to think that I couldn’t have 
lived to fight with one or the other at Acre or Poictiers.” 

" Which of them do you think you would have best liked 
in life?” asked Fortescue. 

Rob thought a moment. "I think Richard was the noblest; 
for he forgave the archer who shot him, and fought more for 



RICHARD CCEUR DE LEON. 


fame and religion than land and gold. I don’t suppose either 
of them would think much of a Yankee, any way — do you?” 

" Hardly, my boy,” said Fortescue. "And I suppose you 
find enough of our people to-day who don’t seem to appreciate 
your countrymen — don’t you? ” 

Rob colored a little. " I’ve had a little trouble with ser¬ 
vants, but none to speak of with gentlemen. For the most 
part, I think I have been well treated, though of course some 



196 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


things seem very strange. But I have been very happy, Mr. 
Fortescue, with you and Mr. Harley.” 

"And we like you very much, Rob. But now a word 
about the future. I think, Rob, I shall go with you as far as 
Russia, and perhaps to India. Not a word of this to Will, 
but finish your sight-seeing.” 

The next day Westminster Abbey was visited, that vast 
Gothic pile in which lie so many of England’s greatest kings, 
warriors, statesmen, and men of letters. There, under the 
forest of lofty columns, from whence the moulded arches 
seemed to mock the branches of some primeval forest, Rob 
stood above the graves of the men and women whose lives 
and deaths had convulsed the English-speaking world. Here 
lay William Shakespeare, whose soliloquies had often formed 
the subject of the reading lesson or Wednesday declamation; 
and there Campbell, whose " Battle of Hohenlinden ” had 
been recited by half the boys in Stonehaven. In this splendid 
chapel, where the banners of dead knights hung drooping over 
the carven stalls they occupied in life, stood the gorgeous 
tomb of its founder, the seventh Henry, the last resting-place 
of Queen Elizabeth, and also of her hapless cousin, Mary 
Queen of Scots, whom a shameful death could not deprive 
of the right of royal sepulture. 

There, in Edward the Confessor’s chapel, was the golden 
mosaicked mausoleums of the monk king Edward I., Henry 
V., and other royal personages, with the weapons borne by 
many of them, and the coronation chairs of all the monarchs 
from that in which Victoria had received her crown in peace 
to that from which William the Norman had reached for the 
hilt of his well-proved sword, while his Norman warriors 
fought with the yelling, furious Saxon mob without the walls. 

Nearly a whole day was spent at Windsor Castle, whose 
massive grandeur and beauty of location are almost beyond 


WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































198 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


description. The tourists visited the regal apartments, for the 
Queen was not then returned from her palace at Balmoral; 
and even Fortescue wondered at the treasures of art and the 
refinement of luxury which surrounded the royal family of 
England, while Rob was simply dumb with amazement. After 
seeing St. George’s Chapel, the Waterloo Chamber and its 
splendid trophies, and multitudes of paintings and portraits, 
they drove through the Home Park, and by a drive-way shaded 
by enormous elms, to the Great Park three miles away, where 
a beautiful lake, called Virginia Water, winds through wonder¬ 
ful vistas of woodland scenery, surrounded by all the added 
charms that landscape gardening and garden architecture can 
contribute. 

As they returned, Mr. Fortescue ordered the driver to stop 
at a point from which a fine view was afforded of the castle, 
surrounded by foliage and tranquil lakelets, in the mild, calm 
autumnal evening. 

"We must take a good look at this scene; for nowhere else 
in England have so many royal personages feasted, slept, and 
become, in the retirement of yonder apartments, poor mortals 
for the hour like ourselves, and consumed by like passions, 
desires and weaknesses. Henry the Eighth and most of his 
wives have feasted and quarrelled in yonder towers, and no 
doubt more than one hapless queen has listened to the blast of 
his hunting-horn in yonder chase, and felt that, like the pant¬ 
ing deer, she was being hunted down by the creatures of the 
royal tyrant. There Catherine of Arragon saw her long devo¬ 
tion repaid by neglect and treachery, and Anne Boleyn, her 
successor, rejoiced in her brief triumph, and grew sick with 
apprehensions but too fatally verified. There Jane Seymour, 
married on the very day after the execution of her unfortunate 
predecessor, spent a part of her short married life, and Anne 
of Cleves in turn found within yonder stately walls that rank 



WINDSOR 











































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































200 


DRIFTING ROUND THJJ WORLD. 


and luxury are not happiness. There Catherine Howard, un¬ 
able to foresee the sable scaffold and fatal block, rejoiced in 
her new dignity; and Catherine Parr, wise and good, guarded 
life and honor so well that even that cruel and licentious mon¬ 
ster Henry VIII. could find no joint in her armor of wifely 
obedience and purity. 

" Here Mary, fanatical, cruel, and doomed to a life of pain 
and disease, turned from the cares of state and the burning of 
English heretics, to her lover, Philip of Spain, and the brief 
months of feverish love and hope which death ended, to the 
joy rather than regret of the English nation; and here Queen 
Elizabeth held her court, where so many great explorers, cap¬ 
tains, and scholars gathered in counsels which lowered the 
insufferable pride of Spain, and began the growth of the Saxon 
power in the New World.” 

"It seems to me, Fortescue,” said Harley, "that you don’t 
recall many who have been good, and still fewer who have 
been happy in yonder great palace. Can’t you tell our Ameri¬ 
can friend of one of our queens who has spent life well and 
happily, and died loved and regretted by all, in that splendid 
cage?” 

"Yes,” said Fortescue; "I can tell of one Phillipa, queen 
of Edward III., the victor of Calais, to whom, when he had 
refused his greatest captains and counsellors the lives of Eus¬ 
tace de St. Pierre and his five brother burgesses, doomed to 
atone for the captured city, the victor gave the brave men who 
had offered their own lives for those of their people. Here 
she sat in happiness and splendor 'at the yearly feast in honor 
of the order and brotherhood of the Knights of the Blue Gar¬ 
ter,’ here established on St. George’s day; and here, after the 
victory at Neville’s Cross, where, in her lord’s absence, she 
reviewed the English army in front of the Scottish leaguer, de¬ 
siring them ' to do their devoir,’ she prepared to go into France 


QUEEN PHILLIPA. 


201 


to see her kingly husband, and influence him, as we have seen, 
to good and knightly deeds of mercy; and here at last, in love 
and charity, she nobly departed this life. I have here an 
extract from Froissart which quaintly tells the touching story. 
Will you hear it?” 

Rob and Harley eagerly assented, and Fortescue read as 
follows: 

" In the mean season, there fell in England a heavy case 
and a common; howbeit it was right piteous for the king, his 
children, and all his realm; for the good queen of England, 
that so many good deeds had done in her time, and so many 
knights succored, and ladies and damsels comforted, and had 
so largely departed of her goods to her people, and naturally 
loved alway the nation of Haynault, the country where she 
was born, she fell sick in the Castle of Windsor, the which 
sickness continued so long that there was no remedy but 
death; and the good lady, when she knew there was no rem¬ 
edy but death, she desired to speak with the king her husband; 
and when he was before her, she put out of her bed her right 
hand, and took the king by his right hand, who was right sor¬ 
rowful at his heart. Then she said: ' Sire, we have in peace, 
joy, and great prosperity, used all our time together. Sir, now 
I pray you at our departing that ye will grant me three 
desires.’ A 

"The king, right sorrowfully weeping, said: 'Madame, de¬ 
sire what ye will. I grant it.’ 

" Then the queen demanded that the king should ' pay all 
that she owed to any man;’ that he should fulfil all her prom¬ 
ises to the church 'where she had had her devotion;’ and 'that 
it might please him to take no other sepulture whensoever it 
should please God to take him out of this transitory life, but 
beside her in Westminster.’ The king, all weeping, said: 'Mad¬ 
ame, I grant all your desire.’ Then the good lady and queen 


202 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


made on her the sign of the cross, and commended the king 
her husband to God, and her youngest son Thomas, who was 
then beside her; and anon after she yielded up the spirit, 
which I believe surely the holy angels received with great joy 
up to heaven; for in all her life she did neither in thought or 
deed thing to lose her soul, as far as any creature could know. 
Thus the good queen of England died in the year of our Lord 
1369, on the vigil of Our Lady, in the middle of August.” 

" Why is it that women are no longer like Queen Phillipa, 
brave and gentle, pious, and loving knightly deeds?” asked 
Harley, with a burst of enthusiastic feeling. 

" I think there are many such still,” said Fortescue, gravely. 
"An Englishman should hardly question it while Victoria 
reigns and dwells at Windsor.” 

Harley’s broad forehead flushed under the reproof. " I 
yield to no man, Fortescue,” said he, haughtily, "in my loyalty 
to the queen, or my belief in her goodness, but there the 
parallel ends. I have seen every prince of the blood-royal in 
uniform, but I have never heard that the queen has taught 
them that England’s princes have won the greatest of her 
victories.” 

For a moment a terrible fire blazed in Fortescue’s glance; 
but he calmed himself with an effort, and spoke quietly, as 
was his wont. " I don’t think that the queen has considered 
her duty of showing to her people, that in war the prince of 
the blood is bound to risk his life as freely as the meanest 
citizen. But there are hundreds of mothers and daughters in 
England whose love is as true, self-sacrificing, and patriotic as 
any heroine of the past.” 

"I suppose it is so,” said Harley, coldly; "but until I see 
some of them, I shall beg to be excused from looking for a 
Phillipa among the giddy-pated butterflies that form the bulk 
of my little circle of female acquaintance.” 


203 


MAJOR HARLEY. 

Rob felt that there was some secret foundation for the 
feeling displayed, but thought it best not to intrude on the 
conversation; and with a last look at Windsor Castle, they 
started on their return to London. 

From thence they hastened homeward; for already the 
swallows were flying southward in the golden October weather, 
and Christmas was to be kept with unusual splendor and fes¬ 
tivity at the Harley mansion, on the Avon, in Somersetshire. 

" The Hall,” as every one in the neighborhood called it, 
was a well-preserved old English mansion, lying amid well- 
kept lawns shaded by huge trees now rapidly shedding their 
yellow and faded leaves. 

Major Harley, a fine but 
rather irascible and per¬ 
emptory old gentleman, 
greeted Fortescue with 
great cordiality, his son 
with a quiet "glad to see 
you, my boy;’’while Rob 
for the first time was inclined to think that at last he was 
ignored on account of his subordinate, and in a certain sense 
menial, position. 

The gentlemen, however, had gone to their rooms, leaving 
Rob in no very pleasant frame of mind when the gruff old 
soldier saluted him: "Now, my lad, step here a moment, if 
you please.” 

Rob obeyed in doubt whether to be angry or amused; and 
the old gentleman, catching his eye, saw at once that he had 
no common boy to deal with, and came straight to the point 
at once. 

"You were at Oban with Will and Fortescue, were you 
not?” 

"Yes, sir.” 



204 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


" What did you think of Miss Fortescue, sir?” 

" I thought her a very kind and good young lady.” 

" I understand that you were very attentive to her there.” 

" I tried to help make her stay pleasant, sir.” 

"Yes, I know, I know; and I’m pleased, very much 
pleased with you, sir. I wish my Will had half your sense. 
But he shall do better, or I’ll—” 

" I hope you’ll say nothing hard of Mr. Harley, sir,” said 
Rob, sturdily, though a little timidly at firsts I think, if you 
please, that, as my uncle used to say, ' a still hunt is better 
than driving with dogs.’ ” 

"And what do you call a still hunt, you young rascal?” 
asked the major, apparently amused at his defence of his 
employer. 

" Why, you see, sir, in our great woods it takes so many 
men to cover all the passages by which a deer may escape, 
that the hounds may be on the trail all day, and no one get a 
shot; for the buck is, as they say, ' driven clean out of the 
county.’ So our hunters move slowly and cautiously through 
the woods, searching the valleys and coverts until a deer starts 
up, and they secure a shot. It is something like deer-stalking 
in the Highlands, only in heavy woods instead of on the moors 
and hills.” 

"And you think that Will should not be ' driven out of the 
county,’ do you? Well, I don’t know but you’re right; but 
I’m sadly disappointed, both on Will's account and my own. 
I was a brother officer of her father’s. He fell in the Crimea, 
poor fellow, leaving a large family and a small estate outside 
of the land; and of course that is Fortescue’s. I promised 
him when dying that I’d look out for the children; and when 
they were little, we used to call them ' the little lovers,’ for 
then Will always spoke of her as 'his little wife,’ and I don’t 
know what turned him against the poor girl.” 


AT HARLEY HALL. 


205 


w I’m sure he likes her,” said Rob, earnestly; "and she 
thinks everything of him, I know; for she often was sad when 
he seemed to avoid her. But I guess, by the time we get back 
here from Russia, that he’ll think more of home and friends 
than he does now.” 

"I don’t know, lad; I don’t know,” said the bluff old fel¬ 
low, heartily. " I was thirty-five before I married and settled 
down, and Will is always wanting to be away somewhere, just 
as I was. But I wanted to tell you, that, if I don’t say much to 
you, you needn’t feel hurt; for Will would be suspicious of you 
if I really seemed to like you.” 

Henceforth Rob was made to feel in many ways that old 
Mr. Harley remembered him, though he seldom spoke to him 
except to refer to his American birth or opinions in a half 
joking, half sarcastic way, which more than once roused young 
Harley’s indignation, and several times elicited a friendly 
remonstrance from Fortescue. 

Greatly to the joy of the latter, his wife and sister came up 
to Bridgewater from Devonshire; and for the next fortnight 
there was nothing but bustle and rejoicing at Harley Hall, for 
at Christmas in Somersetshire those whom God has blest 
with plenty, deem it almost mortal sin to indulge in aught but 
joy and alms-giving at the blessed Christmas-tide. 

The weather was strangely mild and warm to Rob’s think¬ 
ing; and the old sexton, as he showed them where the ivy 
might be thinned for the Christmas hangings, muttered some 
grim old saw about "a green yule and a full church-yard,” 
and together the young master and his guests took long drives 
and walks, visiting the historical localities which lie in every 
neighborhood in England, and nowhere more thickly than in 
Devonshire, Cornwall, and Somersetshire. 

They visited the Isle of Athelney, so called, a wooded ele¬ 
vation lying in the midst of those strange peat bogs, known as 


206 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


the Turbaries, between the Parrot and Avon rivers. Here, 
where once the Bristol Channel poured its tides up to the very 
foot-hills of the Mendip range, along whose base the ancient 
shore-line may still be traced, two hundred square miles of 
peat-moss and reclaimed moor-lands lie below the level of the 
sea, whose waters are kept at bay by a costly system of drain¬ 
age and dikes. In King Alfred’s time it was an inland mere, 
by turns fresh and brackish, as the incursions of the higher 
tides or the drainage of the surrounding hills had the mastery. 

Here had been King Alfred’s last refuge in the dark days 
when his subjects no longer dared to meet the Danes in battle, 
and his stoutest earls could only avoid giving battle, until time 
should bring succor or weaken the triumphant invader. Here, 
if tradition and history may be believed, he took shelter in the 
hut of Ulfoath the Swineherd, who kept his secret faithfully 
even from his wife, whose sharp tongue amply avenged the 
barley-cakes left unwatched by the musing king to scorch and 
blacken. From thence he went out disguised as a harper, 
weaponless and alone, to sing to the half-drunken Berserkers, 
and note their numbers and the order and vigilance exercised 
by the leading sea-kings. 

"It was a great risk to run,” said Fortescue; " for Alfred 
was tall, graceful, and young, and a single suspicion would 
have been his death-warrant. How many wolfish eyes must 
have scowled at him from under Danish helmets! how many 
brutish leaders, heavy with feasting and* wine, must have ques¬ 
tioned him of his name and lineage ere his songs of their own 
heroes lulled their vigilance and excited their admiration! 

"Then he came back here across the drowned peat-mosses, 
and very likely in a wicker coracle covered with hide, or a 
wooden canoe such as Squire Phippen a few years ago broke 
up for firewood. Here, where the wild deer bred undisturbed 
by the wolves until the winter frosts made a firm bridge; 



ALFRED IN THE DANISH CAMP 















































































































































208 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


where the herons sprawled in every tree-top, and hare and 
wild boar fed amid the underbrush, — there was ample food for 
the hunter, and a little force of those stout Saxons who loved 
nothing so well as a life under ' the merry green wood/ and 
could be depended upon to the death when the hunt was up ? 
and 'the mimicry of noble war’ gave place to the deadlier 
game.” 


" And is there no doubt,” 
asked Mrs. Fortescue, "that this 
is indeed the very spot where 
King Alfred took refuge? ” 



"None, I think,” said her 
husband; "for besides the chron¬ 
icles, there is still preserved at 
Oxford a jewel lost by him here 
at the lowest ebb of his fortunes, 
— a loss deemed at the time to 
be an omen of the most sinister 
import. It was found at the end 
of the seventeenth century, — 
nearly eight hundred years after, 


ANCIENT CELTIC HUNTERS. 


— and deposited in the museum of the college restored, if 
not founded, by his efforts. 

"What is it like?” asked Lucy, with some eagerness. 

" It is an oval plate of gold, with the effigy of a man bear¬ 
ing a sceptre which probably was once imbedded in enamel 
and covered with crystal. The border is in rude filigree-work 
in pure gold. It must have been a depressing loss in those 
superstitious days, and King Alfred must have been a happy 
man when the tidings of the defeat of the Danes in Devonshire 
called him forth to battle and eventual victory.” 

" I like to dream over such histories,” said Lucy, blushing 
as she spoke; "but I think the noblest story of the great king’s 



THE GREAT KING. 


209 


life is told of his after-days when he sat securely on the Eng¬ 
lish throne.” 

"Let us hear it, Lucy,”.said her brother, pleasantly. And 
the young girl, blushing more than ever, told the simple story, 
less known than the popular tales of the defeats and misfor¬ 
tunes of the noble Saxon. 

" It is of the widow who came to his court at London to 
seek for her orphan boy the heritage Jeft by his dead father. 
The thanes disputed the child’s right, and claimed the land for 
services in battle or good counsel in sore strait; and the king 
wavered as they spoke of probable invasion and the folly of 
giving up broad lands and the people thereon to a child in 
leading-strings. Then asked the king, says the ancient chron¬ 
icle, ' What wouldst thou do for the king if the Danes came 
upon the coast to ravage the land?’ Then the child clasped 
his tiny hands and said, gazing upward, ' I would pray to God 
in heaven.’ And King Alfred chose rather to trust in the just 
God of the widow and the fatherless, than in the valor of the 
warrior or the counsel of the wise, and gave to the child the 
heritage of his fathers.” 

" King Alfred is not the only hero who is believed to have 
visited these ancient meres,” said Harley, after a pause. "Yon¬ 
der at Langport it is said that ' the brave Geraint, a knight of 
Arthur’s court,’ whom Tennyson has made immortal in his 
ballad of'Enid,’ to quote again from the poet,— 

“ ‘ Crowned 

A happy life with a fair death, and fell 
In battle, fighting for the blameless king 
Against the heathen of the Northern Sea.’ ” 

"Yes,” said Fortescue; "I remember some years ago see¬ 
ing a paper assuming your story, and giving a translation of a 
Welsh poem called, if I remember, 'The Elegy of Geraint’: 

“ ‘ At Llongborth I saw the battle-shock, 

And biers with chiefs drenched in gore, 

And men bleeding from the rush of battle. 


2 10 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD, 


At Llongborth I saw the deadly rush 
Of men slipping with bloody feet, 

Crying, “ Hark ye, warriors of Geraint! w 

At Llongborth was Geraint slain, 

The bold chief of Dyrnaint’s forests, 

Slaying the foe as he fell.’ ” 

Then, as they rode homeward, Lucy asked further of the 
antiquities and legends of these lonely moors; and Harley, who 
was at heart a lover of antiquarian research, pointed out to her 
on the moor certain deep pits, some mere holes filled with 
water, and others more recently dug, surrounded by huge 
pieces of turf cut for firing. 

That night as they sat after supper by the genial fire of 
cannel coal, Mrs. Fortescue turned to her husband and said, 
" Frank, read us the story out of old Caxton of the death of 
King Arthur.” 

So Fortescue took up the ancient volume, for many such 
have long been heirlooms in the west of England, and read 
the quaint and piteous story. 

" We have seen to-day the scene of this grand old tragedy,” 
said Harley, as he ended. "At least there is a tradition that 
the Brue, which we crossed to-day, was the river into 
which Excalibut was flung. There can be no doubt, at all 
events, that the turbaries, when filled by the sea, must have 
penetrated nearly to Canterbury; and there, it is said, the fatal 
fray between Sir Madrid and King Arthur began. Some time 
,1 shall follow the ancient tide levels, and see how near to the 
place where King Arthur is said to have been buried the meres 
once penetrated.” 

" I wish,” began Rob. 

"Say your say, youngster,” said the elder Harley, bluffly. 
"What is it, Sir Yankee?” 

" I was going to say, sir,” said Rob, in a low tone, "that it 
made one feel discontented to read of those grand old days 


SIR LAUNCELOT. 


21 I 


and brave men. And yet I suppose there are as noble gentle¬ 
men now as in King Arthur’s days.” 

w Nonsense, boy, nonsense!” said the old Major, gruffly. 
" Lucy, read to him what is said of Sir Launcelot in the last 
of the book.” 

And Lucy, opening old Malony, read softly Sir Ector’s 
elegy. 

" There thou best, Sir Launcelot, thou that wert never 
matched of earthly knight’s hand; and thou wert the courtliest 
knight that ever bare shield; and thou wert the truest friend to 
thy lovers that ever bestrode horse; and thou wert the truest 
lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman; and thou wert 
the kindest man that ever strake with sword; and thou wert 
the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights; 
and thou wast the meekest man and the gentlest that ever ate 
in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest knight to thy 
mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.” 

" Courtly, true, gallant, faithful, merciful, strong, gentle and 
unobtrusive, yet fearful in anger and irresistible in action,” said 
the Major. w I don’t think we ever see such men nowadays.” 

"I know one at least,” said Lucy, with feeling. "A man 
who served under Lord Raglan in the Crimea, in the House¬ 
hold Brigade. No one was counted better form in the salons 
of London; his word was never doubted, and when his young 
wife died he never cared to wive again. He was almost a 
giant in size and strength, yet was often deemed too quiet and 
unassuming, but when the Russian sortie surprised our lines in 
that foggy morning at Inkerman, no foe ever penetrated the lines 
at the point held by his company. And the orphans and 
widows of his comrades can best tell the story of his gen¬ 
erosity.” 

As she was speaking, the bluff Major blushed like a boy, 
turned and twisted as if seeking some avenue of escape, but 


212 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


at last, with the great tears standing in his eyes he laid his 
huge hand on the head of the weeping girl. " There, lass,” he 
said, " dry your tears, and don’t spoil your old friend. Poor 
Dick Fortescue’s only fear when he lay dying was for his wife 
and you, and I promised him you should be treated as my own 
daughter. If your dear father had lived he would have done 
as much and more for me; ” and rising, the old veteran retired, 
and upon this hint the rest imitated his example. 

The weeks passed rapidly, and at last the day before Christ¬ 
mas, Harley and Lucy, having gone together to visit a tenant 
laid up with a broken limb, were returning at dusk through the 
grand old park whose oaks still held their leaves though rapidly 
turning from crimson to sere yellow. The setting sun cast 
behind them just a single ray of dim gold that made the 
narrow by-way a brighter ribbon running through the shadowed 
underbrush on either side. 

w Our road is a golden one to-night,” said Lucy, with a 
little laugh. "And if old superstitions be true, our lives 
should be happier for the next year at least.” 

" Our lives are what we make them, I suppose,” said Har¬ 
ley, musingly; "and mine is to be one of wandering and 
adventure, as I chose before I knew— We must go the day 
after Christmas,” said he, leaving his sentence incompleted, 
"for Frank goes with us to Russia, at least, and 'on service/ 
as they say.” 

" It’s too bad,” said Lucy, in a grieved little voice. "We 
were having so nice a time, and to break into Christmas week 
like this — I never heard of such a thins:! ” 

"The War Office don’t trouble themselves much about 
Christmas,” said Harley. "And, indeed, I’m glad we are to 
see Russia in the winter, and St. Petersburg is gayest then. 
But, Lucy,” he continued, more gently, " I want you, before I 
go, to forgive my past rudeness, and my waywardness and 


WILLIE AND LUCY. 


3 


changing mood. Believe me I am glad now that our fathers 
chose us for each other, and I will try in the future to be worthy 
of your gentleness and forbearance.” 

Willie,” said Lucy, her voice trembling as she spoke, " I 
came here to ask you to take some measures to break off this 
betrothal which has caused you and me so much unhappiness. 
I can see now that it must have been terrible to you to think 
that you were not free to choose the lady of your love, and 
serve her faithfully until, in God’s good time, you should win 
her for your own. As for me, left an orphan so young, and 
motherless when scarcely out of the nursery, I have loved 
your father as my own, whose last messages to my mother 
were sufficient to make me content, until my eyes were opened 
to the injustice it did you. Now I will speak to your father 
to-night, since you go so much sooner than we thought, and 
you must be free of all bonds, as a brave adventurer should 
be.” 

"Lucy!” said Harley, hurriedly, "you are very kind. I 
am much obliged. I don’t think— There,” he continued, 
more deliberately, " I don’t want you to do anything of the 
kind. I know you better than I did. I thought you weak, and 
you are stronger than I, full of noble thoughts and the love of 
great deeds and valiant men; and I have been very happy for 
the last few days since you came home here. I am no longer 
sorry, dear Lucy, that some day, when my year of travel is 
over, I am to come back to one so good and noble as you.” 

For a little space they walked on in silence, but at last 
Lucy, drawing nearer to her companion’s side, spoke: "Shall 
I tell you how father met with his death-wound?” 

"Yes,” said Harley, stopping just where the open ground, 
sloping down to the hall, lay before them. 

" It was in the morning fogs that my father’s company in 
the second parallel was ordered to help your father, who held 


214 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


the outer line of works, and the enemy in heavy masses were 
just coming over the wall. The Major had emptied his 
revolver and was crossing swords with an officer, while two 
Russians were pressing forward with their bayonets fixed. 
Your father cut down one, but the other levelled his rifle, and 
mine sprang in between and shot him, but fell mortally 
wounded.” 

"Did he never speak again, Lucy?” asked Harley. 

" Oh, yes; he lived several days, and even wrote a short 
letter, which brother Frank keeps as his greatest treasure. It 
contains his wish, 'that the houses of Fortescue and Harley 
should be as closely united in the future as a friendship, 
cemented by many mutual changes and kindnesses, had been 
in the past;’ and he went on to say that we must not regret his 
death, for that several times each had rescued the other at 
almost certain peril of his life.” 

" There are brave and loyal knights, then, to-day, even as 
in the past, Lucy, though harpers no longer sing their praises, 
and their deeds are seldom made known to the world.” 

" Perhaps,” said Lucy, softly, " such chivalry is better than 
what old Malony terms ' the orgulous pride ’ of those knights 
who sought adventures, not in pursuit of duty, but to gain 
honor of men. To be all that a true knight should be in daily 
life, gentle, generous, unselfish, and kind to all, high or low, 
rich or poor, fair or uncomely, is better than to be ' the good¬ 
liest person that ever came among press of spears.’ ” 

" Help me to be such a knight, Lucy,” said Harley, his 
voice trembling as he spoke. " I will try to show myself 
worthy of you and the dead soldier whose life was given for 
my father’s. I will give up my foreign tour, and you shall 
only go back to Hatherleigh to come back the mistress of the 
old Hall.” 

"No! no!” said Lucy firmly, "that must not be. My 


A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 


2I 5 




knight must finish his quest and achieve his adventure before 
he has such a load about his neck as a wife’s arms are apt to 
be. But,” and she hung down her girlish head as she spoke, 
when a year and a day are overpast come back, and no one 
will greet you more gladly than your ' little wife ’ Lucy.” 

The great hall was lighted up cheerily, and the yule log, 
represented by a huge bole of oak, flamed amid fagots which 
flooded the whole room with light, and old Major Harley sat 
in his easy-chair at one side, surrounded by a bevy of young 
girls, distant relatives who had come to enjoy the yule-tide 
rejoicings at Harley Hall. Fortescue and his fair wife were 
finishing a game of chess commenced that afternoon, but 
turned to see the merry game of forfeits, — for the girls and 
as many young gentlemen were busily trying to keep in the 
air a bit of swan’s-down, and the unlucky one on whom it rested 
had to give up some trifle, to be redeemed after ancient and 
time-honored custom. 

Just then Harley and Lucy came in arm-in-arm, and the 
former, with compressed lips and flushed face, walked straight 
up to the Major’s chair. The players stopped, and the veter¬ 
an’s face became grave, for all saw that something out of the 
common had taken place. 

w What’s the matter, Will? ” said he hastily. " Has Yeo 
had a bad turn, or were you annoyed on the way home?” 

w Nothing is the matter, father, except that I thought you 
wanted a Christmas gift, and so I got a promise that next 
Christmas I should bring you—” 

The old Major sprang to his feet and hurled his chair to 
one side. " Glorious, my boy! Kiss me, Lucy! This is the 
happiest hour of my life. Watts! Watts! where’s Watts? 
Here, you see that the bell-ringers are out in full force 
to-night. Tell Grimes that he and his son must be there, if 
I pay them a guinea each. Tell the butler to give sherry 


216 


DRIFTING ROUND THU WORLD. 


instead of ale to the servants and ringers to-night, and let no 
poor person go away empty or unhelped. God bless you, Will, 
my boy. You don’t know how glad I am that I have lived to 
see this day.” 

Of course all was bustle and congratulation, and all the 
young ladies had to kiss Lucy and content themselves with 
shaking hands with Will, who looked far more flushed and ill 
at ease than Lucy, who blushed and trembled a little, but was 
strangely sweet and more charming for her confusion. Rob 
came in with his share of good wishes, and was soon deep in 
the enjoyments of an English Christmas-tide. 

First of all the ceremonies which seemed strange to Rob 
was the Christmas Carol, which suddenly arose on the still 
night air without. Sweetly a single girlish voice of great rich¬ 
ness sang the first verse, and from time to time the deeper 
notes of her companions joined in the simple melody, as cen¬ 
turies before their ancestors had sung in the merry west of 
England: 

“As Joseph was a-walking, 

He heard an angel sing: 

This night shall be the birthnight 
Of Christ, our heavenly King! 

His birth-bed shall be neither 
In housen or in hall, 

Nor in the place of Paradise, 

But in the oxen’s stall. 

He neither shall be rocked 
In silver or in gold, 

But in the wooden manger 
That lieth on the mould. 

He neither shall be washen 
In white wine or in red, 

But with the fair spring water 
That shall on you be shed. 

He neither shall be clothed 
In purple or in pall, 

But in the pure white linen 
That usen babies all. 



CHRISTMAS BELLS 


217 










































































































































































2lS 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


As Joseph was a-walking, 

Thus did the Angel sing; 
And Mary’s Son at midnight 
Was born to be our King! 

Then be you glad, good people, 
At this time of the year; 

And light you up your candles, 
For his star it shineth clear.” 


Then the great kitchen was opened, and in poured the 
singers and their companions, with lanterns and torches, and 
many, indeed, who were not singers, but accompanied the 
“ waits,” as they are called, for the good cheer and kind recep¬ 
tion they are almost certain to receive. Bread and cheese, 
cider and ale, were served out freely, and the Major gave the 
leader of the singers a guinea, after which, with three cheers 
w for Squire,” they departed to visit another family. 

And then in the servants’ hall there was bobbing for apples 
floating in tubs of water, the players clasping their hands be¬ 
hind them and trying to catch the fruit with their teeth, from 
which sport most came up from their first essay laughing and 
sputtering without the illusive fruit. Others enjoyed a feat, 
where a stick, with an apple at one end and a lighted candle at 
the other, was balanced at the end of a cord let down from 
the ceiling, and under a great bunch of mistletoe in the centre 
of the room every maid who carelessly ventured was kissed 
by the nearest bachelor whose sharp eyes noticed her inadver¬ 
tence. Later a great heap of raisins in a pewter platter was 
brought in and placed on the oaken table, over which Watts, 
with grim solemnity, sprinkled salt and poured half a bottle of 
brandy. Then all the candles were blown out except one, 
with which Watts lit the liquor, and then extinguished the 
candle. Instantly a spectral glare, by which every face looked 
strangely wan and colorless, lit up the hall, and the revellers, 
crowding around, snatched out the flaming fruit, and tossing it 


CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES. 


219 


from hand to hand, blew out the lambent flame and ate the 
raisins, amid uproarious merriment and comical exclamations 
of slight pain from those less expert than their companions. 

Then the guests were called to the great dining-room; but 
previously Watts, having been first spoken to by the Major, 
held a brief interview with each gentleman, after which the 
doors were thrown open, and the Squire, offering his arm to 
Mrs. Gray, the kind old housekeeper, led the way to table. 

The room had been that day hung with evergreen, ivy, and 
arbor-vitae, while branches and wreaths of glossy holly and its 
scarlet berries ornamented the cornices; but though the ladies 
looked everywhere, the pale green leaves and pearly berries 
of the mistletoe were nowhere to be seen. Each gentleman 
politely saw his fair companion seated, and then the Major 
said "Now,” and each bent and saluted his partner. The 
ladies sprang to their feet, half laughing, half indignant. Rob’s 
companion, a fiery little brunette, had half raised her little 
head as if to resent the insult, when a peal of silvery laughter* 
which grew into general hilarity, told that the joke had become 
manifest, for every gentleman, at the moment when the ladies 
were seating themselves, had held over the head of his com¬ 
panion a spray of mistletoe. 

" Give them to the ladies, lads,” said the Major, as soon as 
he could control his laughter. " I had them made in Paris on 
purpose for this Christmas eve. Now, parson, ask a blessing, 
for we have scarcely an hour at most before midnight.” 

The mistletoe sprays — singularly perfect imitations — were 
surrendered to the ladies, and after the rector had said grace, 
the butler and his assistants removed the covers, and the feast 
began. Rob had never seen so elegant a table, for great 
epergnes of silver and crystal, filled with the choicest fruit and 
flowers, with wonderfully cut glass and massive silver, set off 


220 


DRIFTING ROUND THF WORLD. 


the table, ablaze with wax-lights in ancient " branches ” or 
candelabra. 

Soups first; fowl, venison, and great rounds of beef; jelly- 
like brawn, highly spiced and quivering; sausages and blood- 
puddings; devilled kidneys and grilled bones of turkey, hot 
with cayenne and mustard, and browned over the charcoal fire; 
pies of chicken, oysters, pork and mutton; and venison, with 
vegetables, condiments, and relishes, set forth a feast whose 
variety and strange dishes were to Rob a new revelation of the 
profusion of an English Christmas-tide. Then came the des¬ 
sert and the wines; and as they sat and ate and chatted, eating 
philopenas and divining the future by apple-seeds and orange- 
pips, the great plum-pudding, blazing with lighted brandy and 
set with sprays of holly, was borne in by the butler; while a 
man in complete armor, with his visor down, bore on either 
side a silver punch-bowl, in which some seething liquid hissed 
and simmered. 

Then across the moors came a distant chime of bells. At 
first, low and sweet and slow, the notes stole across the river- 
reaches and through the branches of the park white with hoar¬ 
frost, and then in delicate, hilarious rhythm, the iron tongues 
striking faster and faster, poured a rolling, joyous stream of 
sound across the listening country. The pudding was helped, 
and all, as in duty bound, ate a small slice of the rich, fruity 
compound,— and all at once, for a moment, the bells were 
silent. 

The servants filled glasses from the ancient bowls, and 
handed one to each, crowned with a floating crab-apple half 
hid in creamy foam, and at a signal from the master of the 
feast all rose to their feet. 

"For over an hundred years,” he said, "this manor has 
never known a Christmas eve to pass uncelebrated, and many 
a happy family party has gathered around this board, where it 


HAPPY HEARTS. 


221 


may well be that others will gather when we have long since 
passed into the other country; but never has there been a 
happier heart than mine to-night. For to-night I have seen 
my greatest hope granted, my old comrade’s wish fulfilled; and 
I know that only death can sever the faith plighted between 
the names of Harley and Fortescue.” 

" Friends, I give you a toast, the last and best of Christmas 
pledges, ' The friendship of the fathers. In the union of the 
children may it find fruit worthy of the love which spared not 
to lay down his life for his friend.’ ” 

And as the distant chimes again stole over the levels the 
toast was drunken in the ancient posset, scarce now known 
among men, and the merry Christmas had begun. 

Of its many pleasant features we have scarce space to tell, 
enough that it was long remembered at the Hall, and by Rob, 
as one of the events of his life. Every one seemed so heartily 
happy and pleasant, and every pleasure was so freely entered 
into by young and old, that the revels, which for a week kept 
the Hall full of happy hearts and faces, seemed, to one used to 
the grave carriage of New England life, a new revelation; and 
yet he could see no vestige of aught but an honest, upright, and 
contented rejoicing in the blessings showered down upon his 
children by the Father of all. 

Fortescue received a despatch revoking his instructions to 
depart, and it was not until early in the spring that the three, 
having first accompanied the ladies into Devonshire, set out for 
Plymouth, to sail thence for France. 


222 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


CHAPTER XII. 

TO RUSSIA VIA FRANCE, BELGIUM AND PRUSSIA.-EDDYSTONE 

LIGHT.-CONCARNEAU.-SARDINE FISHERY.-THE SMUG¬ 
GLERS’ CLIFF.-PARIS.-MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 

-MADAME DE SOMBREUIL.-CHURCH OF ST. GOMER.- 

BRUSSELS. - THE RHINE. - DIKES AND DITCHES. - ST. 

PETERSBURG. 

T HE swallows had already begun to build their nests among 
the stuccoed pilasters of Hatherleigh Manor, when again 
Fortescue received orders to report at headquarters for duty, 

and doubting not that he was 
to make some stay in Russia, 
advised Harley as follows: 

"You had better take ship 
at Plymouth with John Cary, 
who sails for Concarneau with 
supplies for the French sar¬ 
dine fisheries, and, seeing 
something of France and 
Paris, come on to join me at 
leisure at St. Petersburg. 
Cary sails day after to-mor¬ 
row, and you must be in Plymouth to-morrow night.” 

So with little bustle, for their luggage had long been ready, 
and their gun-cases and other extras were to go with Fortescue, 
the young men took a post-chaise for Plymouth, arriving there 






PLYMOUTH. 


223 


early enough to enjoy a view of the harbor, whence, in the 
days of " Queen Bess,” the first mosquito fleet of England 
sailed out to harass the Spanish Armada. Here Lord 



QUEEN ELIZABETH KNIGHTING DRAKE. 


Howard, of Effingham, the good Catholic, but loyal High 
Admiral of England, lay with his tiny fleet, and took counsel 
with his captains and settled upon that policy of harassing, 
running fight, which picked off one by one huge galleons and 
many-oared galleys, until the Spanish force and courage was 
19 









EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. 

crowded with shipping, past Drake’s Island, with its heavy 
batteries of huge Armstrongs, and viewing with delight the 
lovely islet hill of Mount Edgecombe, with its stately manor- 
house and wonderful beauty of park and terrace and cunning 
architecture, by high noon were running before the dry north- 


224 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

forever broken and the great fleet melted away. Arrived on 
board Cary’s vessel, the " Alexandra,” a stout brig of an hundred 
and fifty tons, they ran out of the Hamoaze, with its docks 


EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. 


225 


east wind by Eddystone Lighthouse, whose smooth bole-like 
column, with its foundations laid in chambers cut in the living 
rock, has since 1760 defied the fiercest sea that ever tried the 



CAPTURE OF DE RUYTER’S VESSEL BY ADMIRAL BLAKE. 


work of human architect. The sea was smooth as they passed, 
but even then the rock was awash; and as Harley read over 
from his guide-book the history of the foundation of the light, 
its destruction by storm and fire, and the skill of Sir John 
Smeaton, who built the present structure, Rob was lost in 
admiration. 





226 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

" Ay, lad,” said honest Captain Cary, "ye may well wonder. 
I’ve seen the time myself when a wave would strike the side 
of yonder tower and hide its lantern even with spray, but the 
man who built it knew how to build, he did.” 

Far off on the starboard beam lay the Land’s End, where in 
1703, in the same storm by which the Eddystone Light and its 
keepers had perished, the fleet of Sir Cloudesley Shoel had 
been driven ashore, and over eight thousand brave mariners lost 
in one horrible scene of utter destruction. 

Here too, in 1655, Admiral Robert Blake, the stout Puritan 
defender of Lyme and Taunton in the Great Rebellion, and in 
later years the Admiral of the Parliamentary fleet, the scourge 
of the Moorish pirates, and the conqueror of Van Tromp and 
De Ruyter, had seen with fast closing eyes the loved cliffs of 
that native country for which he had done and suffered so 
much. 

" He was born,” said Harley, " at Bridgewater, and the 
young lady you were so gallant to on Christmas eve, Carrie 
Blake, you know, is of the same family, though not of his 
blood, for he died unmarried. Many strange tales are told of 
him still among us, and no truer man ever lived of all those 
who have been deemed great and good in the western 
countries.” 

The next morning they made the Isle D’Ouessant, of the 
north-eastern coast of Brittany, and, the wind holding fair, ran 
into Concarneau the next morning, having " hardly shifted 
tack or sheet since they started,” as Cary expressed it. 

Here, for a day or two, the young men visited the sur¬ 
rounding villages, studying the grave, quaint, deeply-bronzed 
Breton people, and the sardine-fishers, whose wide-spread 
nets were daily luring these luscious little fish in myriads to 
destruction. Once indeed they went out with a fisherman, 
who showed them his nets of thin, fine thread, and the salted 







SARDINE FISHERY.— CASTING THE NETS, 














































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































228 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


cod-roes and shrimp with which the sardines were to be 
baited. As soon as the flat, clumsy boat was well out to sea> 
the schools of bright, greenish fish were seen moving with the 
tide some four or five feet below the surface. 

Jacques is all ready; the thin, almost invisible wall of mesh 
slides noiselessly down into the clear water, and, crushing a 
little roe in his hand, a cloud of separated cod-eggs spreads 
along the ready net. In a moment the school is among the 
bait. Crowding and jostling each other, the tiny fish crowd 
in, one above the other, until it almost seems that a scoop-net 
could be used with effect on the greedy little beauties. Then 
the net is suddenly seized by the whole crew and lifted in, in 
places a perfect mass of liquid silver, everywhere thickly span¬ 
gled with victims. Another net is let down; and while the 
school again gather around the fatal snare, the Breton crew 
carefully clear the fatal meshes and sprinkle salt on the quiv¬ 
ering mass in the bottom of the boat. 

But now the neighboring boats are moving shoreward, and 
Jacques hastens to turn his boat and follow before his market 
is spoiled. An exciting race — that is, for boats so clumsy as 
these flat-bottomed Breton chaloufes — follows, and Jacques at 
last loads his fish into a rude cart drawn by an antiquated 
white horse, and sets off for the confiserie . 

Harley and Rob follow, and find that the five thousand fish 
taken have been sold at six francs, or about one dollar and 
twenty-three cents, per thousand, which, with the couple of 
dollars paid by the young men, gives Jacques about eight 
dollars for his day’s work, with which he clatters off in his 
wooden shoes, hugely content. 

Stepping into the conflserie, they see long lines of lusty 
peasant-women in their curious head-dresses, who rapidly 
wash the fish, cut off their heads and gills, and sprinkle them 


SARDINE FISHERY. 


229 


lightly with fine salt, while others lay them on willow or wire 
frames, and place them in the sun to dry. 

Then a man, who presides over a brick furnace where 
several long, shallow pans of olive-oil are seething, boiled the 
little fishes for a few moments, taking them out in handled 
trays of woven wire, on which they were left to drain and 



A BRETON WEDDING IN HIGH LIFE. 


cool until they could be handled by the packers,— young girls 
who chatted and laughed, and cast sly glances at the young 
and strange gentlemen, as they deftly packed the sardines in 
boxes and filled them with oil, to be passed to the solderers,— 
girls like themselves, who use their hot irons and soldering 
wire so dexterously that men have never yet been able to do 
such clean and perfect work. 

Afterwards they were shown the baths in which the sealed 
boxes are heated until, the contents being at boiling-heat, a 














23 O DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

small hole is punched in the cover, and, the confined air and 
steam rushing out in a jet, the aperture is dexterously closed 
with a drop of solder, and the sardines are ready for labelling 
and packing for exportation. 

Old Michel, the cook, a curious old fellow, always singing 
some quaint and dolorous old song about his work, took a 
great fancy to the young men, and, when off duty, took them 
around the shores, and showed them the sights of the little 
seaport. He took them to a fete, where they danced with 
some of the sardinieres , who were far from homely; were 
regaled with eau sucree , or, as we should call it, orange syrup 
and water, and willingly paid for a few bottles of vin ordinaire , 
which liberality gained them the friendship of all the fisher¬ 
men of the port. 

Here, too, they beheld a Breton wedding in high life, the 
groom being a huge militaire of forty or thereabouts, and the 
bride a tiny little brunette, the daughter of one of the sardine- 
packers, just out of her convent school at Quimperle. 

But their greatest delight was to get old Michel up to the 
auberge where they stopped, and have him relate the wild 
Breton legends; for every hill and river and moor had its tale 
of horror, war, or superstition in the old days, and many of the 
old beliefs are not yet eradicated. 

But most of all, old Michel used to love to tell of the 
wrecking communities, who in his own youth had not learned 
to give up a trade as villanous and merciless as that of the 
pirate; and one story Rob liked so well that he copied it to 
send home in his next letter to May Irving and his grand¬ 
parents. Old Michel called it 

The Wreckers of Montreaux. 

" It was over fifty years ago that on the northern coast stood 
a small village far from any port, and approachable only by a 





THE WRECKER. 





































































































































































































































































































































































232 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

kind of cove which had a shelving sandy shore, reached by 
a gorge amid the great rocky cliffs. There lived a colony of 
wreckers, who pretended to be fishermen, but seldom put to 
sea unless a great plenty of fish or an uncommonly fine season 
induced them for a time to seek an honest livelihood. 

" I have visited them in my youth, for a person named 
Pierre Landeau was a kind of chief of the little community, 
and carried on a trade in the few necessaries and luxuries not 
furnished by the sea or the misfortunes of others. I carried 
him at times various goods, for which he paid in coins of many 
nationalities, but always good; and often he would give me a 
small piece of silver, and something to eat and drink into the 
bargain, to carry some small parcel to be delivered on my way 
home. 

" ’Twas a strange place, Monsieur. The houses were mere 
huts, or made of old boats placed bottom up, or sometimes the 
cabins and galleys of wrecked vessels, each forming a room 
several of which often communicated with each other by lade 
passages, or sheds. Some had berths in which people had been 
drowned, but were 'here beds for the living; others lockers, 
transoms, and closets, where their goods and food were kept. 

"The women were either bold and slatternly, look you, 
dressed sometimes in rich silks, and sometimes in rags, ay, 
sometimes in stained uniforms or Indian robes; or poor, sad 
creatures, afraid of their own lives and the masters whom they 
dared not disobey. There was only one exception, and that 
was Mademoiselle Madeleine, the daughter of Pierre Landeau, 
but just come from St. Omer, where she had been taught in a 
convent, Messieurs. 

"The men were of many races, look you,— not all French, 
Messieurs, though, ma foil but too many were of the old 
Breton blood, strong and dark-browed. They were a strange- 
looking sight on a feast-day, as I have seen them dressed in 


THE WRECKERS. 


233 




the garb of almost every race, English, French, Norwegian, 
and even Lascars and Malays, but all faken from dead men. 

"For, Messieurs, no one was ever saved alive at Mon- 
treaux, met foil There were a few saved from a ship that 
struck by daylight,— a brig of Nantes; but most ships were 
lost by night, and the fishermen of the neighborhood told of 
horses that wandered along the cliffs with lighted lanterns on 
their necks, and of torches moved like the tossing light of a 
shallop lying-to. 

" But Madeleine soon found out the secret trade of these 
wretches, and tried hard to get her father to leave the horrible 
calling; but he was cruel and avaricious, and she was forced 
to be silent. Then she began to teach some of the younger 
children, and for her good deeds and skill in sickness gained 
the good-will of many of the older people. 

" But one night, see you, a gale had been blowing for two 
whole days, and at dusk a great ship, dismasted and under a 
jury-mast, was drifting nearer and nearer the coast. The lights 
were prepared, and after dark the false beacons led the captain 
to believe that she was clear of the cape, and she struck off 
Montreaux. 

" The wreckers saw three boats coming ashore together, 
and hastened down the gorge, not to save, but to destroy those 
who should reach the shore. Madeleine, in a wrecker’s dress, 
was there, and saw with horror that instead of ropes and boat¬ 
hooks the men carried clubs, and the women stones slung in 
their thick stockings; for, see you, though many men had been 
found dead about Montreaux, there were none bruised, except 
as men might be by rocks and floating wreckage. Madeleine 
prayed to her father to save the poor castaways, but he angrily 
ordered her to go home, and some of the wreckers threatened 
violence. 

" But just then a man standing in the forward boat was 


234 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

heard to give an order, and as the boat rushed in on the break¬ 
ers a volley of musketry was poured from the bows of the 
boats, and half of the wreckers — among them Pierre Lan- 
deau—-lay dead or mortally wounded on the beach. The rest 
fled shrieking, but Madeleine stayed beside her father. 

"In a few moments fifty men, three women, and some chil¬ 
dren, had landed, and in the Captain, Pierre Landeau recog¬ 
nized his own son. He was carried to Montreaux on a litter, 
and in the houses left by the affrighted wreckers the crew took 
shelter until the storm was over, and Pierre Landeau learned 
that the owners, who had unjustly discharged him, had long 
sought to atone for an injustice which he had cruelly avenged, 
on innocent and unfortunate mariners. 

" When Pierre was somewhat better, Montreaux was de¬ 
serted, and the family went to Havre, where Jacques, the son, 
took a house, and Madeleine not long afterwards married the 
surgeon of his ship, whose sister was also married to the young 
captain who had so well avenged the victims of the pirates of 
Montreaux. Old Pierre never recovered from his wounds, but 
died penitent, while Montreaux has never since been the home 
of a living creature.” 

From Concarneau Harley went to St. Nazaire, from whence 
they took the railway for Paris, following the banks of the 
Loire. At Nantes they caught a glimpse of the ancient build¬ 
ings and narrow streets of a city known chiefly for the famous 
Edict of Henry of Navarre, which for a time gave the Hugue¬ 
nots peace and freedom to worship God. 

Following up the rapid Loire, by Angiers, Saumur, Tours, 
Orleans, and Etampes, they rode all day through localities full 
of interest and historical associations, from the legendary ex¬ 
ploits of Charlemagne and his paladins, to the chronicles of 
Froissart and Guizot. 

As they drew nearer Paris the country became less drear 





HOUSE OF SIR FRANCIS WALSINGHAM, ENGLISH AMBASSADOR. ON THE EVE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 

















































































































































































































































236 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


and more fertile, and the people fairer and better dressed, and 
more than one group of habitans attracted by their dress and 
manner the curious eyes of our friends. Entering Paris at 
night, they made but a short stay, for on the second day Har¬ 
ley received at the Westminster Hotel in the Rue de la Paix y 
a telegram which warned him that he must hurry on to St. 
Petersburg. 

"We can visit Paris any time,” said Harley; u and we will 
take the railroad across France to Mayence, go down the 
Rhine to Rotterdam, go across Holland and Prussia by rail, 
and so on to St. Petersburg.” 

Rob felt disappointed, for he had already viewed the Seine 
with its bridges, the vast pile and ancient glories of Notre 
Dame, and seen the tower whence the great bell of the Church 
of St. Germain l’Auxerrois tolled out the fatal signal for the 
awful massacre of St. Bartholomew on the 24th of August, 
l 57 2 - 

" Pve heard,” said he, " that Sir Philip Sidney was here at 
that time, and was saved with many others in the house of the 
English ambassador. I wonder if the house is still standing?” 

"Fd like to know myself,” said Harley; "for Pve read 
Sidney’s life, and have often thought how such a man must 
have gripped his sword-hilt, and longed to be at such murder¬ 
ous wretches! But even that association is hardly as terrible 
as those of the Place de Greve y literally soaked with the blood 
of thirty thousand victims, who fell in the Reign of Terror. 
Think of the good and great who died; the victims cut to 
pieces by the mob; the useless murders of women; the mad 
atheism; the wanton thirst for blood! Think of poor Mademoi¬ 
selle de Sombreuil drinking blood from the reeking gutters 
to save her father’s life, an old man whose only crime was his 
noble blood! ” 

"I don’t know,” said Rob, slowly; "but we seem to think 















238 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


differently from you about the French Revolution. Our 
teacher told us that, awful as it was, it was only to be ex¬ 
pected as the fruit of ages when the people had no rights, and 
were kept oppressed, down-trodden, ignorant, wicked, and 
miserable. He said that when rulers became careless of right 
and duty, and society corrupt and irreligious; when the priests 
and ministers became worldly and avaricious, and the law is 
unequally meted out to rich and poor, — then the seed is sown 
that will break up society and leave the rich at the mercy of 
the monsters they have created.” 

" But -you don’t think the French did right, do you?” said 
Harley, a little angrily. 

"Oh, no,” replied Rob; "only I think they had become so 
ignorant and miserable, and so hopeless of any relief, that they 
became mad, insane with the thought of revenge. And if it 
was hard for the victims, the sins of their ancestors were the 
cause of it all.” 

"Well, Rob, be ready to-night; for we start at daylight 
to-morrow for Mayence.” 

At Mayence the passage down the Rhine was taken in a 
steamboat, which, like most of the river-boats seen in Europe, 
seemed to Rob "not much account anyway”; for the comforts 
afforded to the travelling on steamers in Europe are very few 
indeed. The great boat bridge, eighteen hundred feet long, 
the wonderful fortifications, and the old cathedral, were 
glanced at rather than visited, and early in the day they 
started down the Rhine. 

Biederich, Johannisberg, and Rudesheim, with their vine¬ 
yards of world-wide reputation; the mouse tower of the ill- 
fated Bishop Hatto, and the robber castle of Ehrenfels; the old 
town of Bingen; the Lurely, or Lorely, Rock, and Bacharach, 
another famous place of vineyards,— were passed in order. 
Then came St. Goar, where the ruins of a convent and the 















CONVENT AND CASTLE OF RHEINFELS 






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































240 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

castle of Rheinfels overhung the rocky and precipitous shore, 
under whose shadow lay quaint river-craft and the huge 
lumber-rafts on which whole families and almost whole vil¬ 
lages float down the great river; and passing on to Coblentz, 
they halted for a night, and surveyed the ancient city, "the 
banks of the blue Moselle,” and the great bridge of boats, the 
most wonderful in the world. 

Ehrenbreitstein’s impregnable and almost inaccessible for¬ 
tress; Cologne, famous for smells, cathedrals, and the ever 
popular scent of the house of La Farina; Dusseldorf, famous 



A DUTCH LANDSCAPE. 


for paintings; and many other famous and beautiful places,— 
were passed in the darkness for the most part, and the trav¬ 
ellers rested for a day and night at Rotterdam and the Hague. 

From Rotterdam to the Hague is but a few moments’ ride 
by rail; and after an examination of its moat-encircled walls, its 
curious drawbridges, its canals bordered with trees, and its 
famed museum, rich in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian curiosi¬ 
ties, the cars were taken for Amsterdam by way of Leyden; 
the track lying so near the sea, as to give a good view of the 
low sandy beaches, left at ebb tide, and the dikes, ditches, and 
wind-mills which have reclaimed so vast and so rich a terri¬ 
tory from the sea. 

From Amsterdam to Berlin the journey was rather interest¬ 
ing, but from Berlin to St. Petersburg few points of historical 







AN ECCENTRIC CHARACTER. 


241 


interest were passed. In the great capital of Russia, however, 
they found Fortescue ready to welcome them, and comfortably 
domiciliated with a Russian officer, whose eccentricities had 
made him a marked man among a very peculiar people. 

General Gourof had passed in youth through the military 
school, received his lieutenancy in the guard, and been almost 
immediately ordered against the Circassians, among whom the 
boy became a man, 
and the man spent 
the most of his life, 
although certain fo¬ 
rays against Persian 
and Turcoman had 
employed his late 
years of service. 

Now, at sixty, still 
enormously strong, m 
yet fat to obesity, // 
bald, with huge 
side-whiskers and a 
close-cut German 
moustache, compar¬ 
atively wealthy, and 
without any ties except those of military service, he was stop¬ 
ping for a season in St. Petersburg. 

" He has helped us to these apartments here, and will be 
glad to have us call round in the evenings, for he seldom stirs 
out after dark. He has promised to see that our passports and 
'padarozhnciy or order for post-horses, are all right when we 
start for the Caspian by way of Moscbw and the Volga.” 

The great city was still in its winter dress, and the droskys 
still slid with grinding runners over the pavements, cumbered 
with a congealed mixture of snow, ice, and all kinds of filth; 



GENERAL GOUROF. 



242 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

and its five hundred thousand denizens were still in their win¬ 
ter costume, although, indeed, Harley hazarded the guess that 
about half had worn the same sheep-skin cloaks and filthy 
gaberdines for several years at a stretch. 

On the Neva, crowds of motly pleasure-seekers and sight¬ 
seers, with the winter booths and' irahtirs , or tea-houses, 
greeted their eyes, though in places the icy expanse was black, 
and treacherous air-holes had already begun to claim occa¬ 
sional victims. Here stood the squatty Finlander, with his 
broad feet braced like a strong wrestler waiting for the grip, 
and a matted flood of yellow hair framing round and puffy 
cheeks; and beside him a Cossack off duty, tall, wiry, with 
smart uniform and curled mustachios, presented a perfect 
opposite in every respect. 

The sturdy Esthonian, heavy-limbed and full-faced; the 
slender, hairy-chinned Bashkir, ever suggesting the elfish 
origin popularly assigned to his untamable race; the stately 
warrior of Bokhara, still dignified and fearless despite defeat; 
the tiny Lapp; the grimy, almond-eyed Tartar; the slender 
Polander, the very embodiment of suspicion and intrigue; with 
thievish Kirghiz and handsome Circassians, — mingled with 
the crowd of mujiks and strangers. 

Here on a level near the river’s bank a Samoiede tent of 
reindeer skins attracted our travellers, and being readily ad¬ 
mitted, they found themselves in the presence of the master 
of the house, whose face, like that of his wife and daughters, 
is actually without features, the nose and cheeks being actually 
depressed, and the forehead and chin rather conspicuous by 
their absence than otherwise, and all dressed simply in greasy 
robes of skin, with their unkempt hair falling over greasy faces 
of a deep brownish-red. 

On the walls hung strips of dried fish and meat, a few 
skins served at once as bed and carpet, and their greatest luxu- 


A REINDEER DRIVE. 


243 


ries appeared to be vodki , the Russian brandy and reindeer- 
milk cheese —- a specimen of which, of a curious mixed gray 
color and an indescribable odor, was handed around for in¬ 
spection. Rob and Harley, however, decided upon a rein¬ 
deer drive, and four being harnessed by a rude breastplate and 
single thong to a curiously clumsy sledge, much like a huge 
bread-tray, several circuits are made on the ice, the little 
antlered steeds making very good time, 
considering the clumsy contrivance 
behind them. A few copecks amply 
rewarded the goblin-like owner, who 
retired to his tent perhaps to enjoy the 
national luxury of a debauch on poi¬ 
sonous mushrooms, which they are said 
to use as the Chinese do opium. 

From the river they had a splendid 
view of the gilded spires and domes 
of the city, the lofty granite arches of 
the Nikolaievski bridge, the massive 
batteries of the citadel, and the islands 
covered with a dense population, who 
were already wondering how long it 
would be to the breaking up of the ice and a probable inunda¬ 
tion. But as evening drew near they drove back to their rooms 
far up the Nevskoi Prospect, and see on either side the street 
scenes which, save some difference in garb or architecture, are 
much the same in all lands. The mujik seeking to please his 
mistress; the stout maid-of-all-work; the coach and its postil¬ 
ions hurrying up to hotel or barrack; the mounted Cossack, 
with his long lance and curious equipments, and the heavy- 
featured soldiers of the line, passed every moment in the hu¬ 
man tide that poured up and down St. Petersburg’s greatest 
street. 





















244 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

After supper they went to the General’s rooms, but heard 
in the great hall-way, as they went up-stairs, a great confusion 
of childish voices, mingled with gruffer tones and ogre-like 
laughter. 

w He is questioning the children now,” said Fortescue. 



GENERAL GOUROF AND THE CHILDREN. 


" Sometimes he’ll have half of the neighbor’s boys and girls 
in, and ask them about their studies, and give them bon-bons, 
and all that; and very possibly he will have half of them cry¬ 
ing the next time they come in.” 

As he ceased speaking they came upon the group, where, 
with his back to the visitors, a huge, richly-dressed man was 
catechising a row of children in the picturesque Russian cos¬ 
tume, but on seeing the gentlemen he ended with a Russian 
exclamation which sent them hurrying down stairs in real or 
apparent fear, all except two or three of the smallest, whose 
nurses suddenly appeared and took them away. 

. - . 









































































































































ARMY LIFE IN RUSSIA 


245 


The General’s greeting was cordial, and the evening was 
most pleasantly spent, principally in listening to his stories of 
army life on active service against the wild Caucasian moun¬ 
taineers. 

w When I left here first,” he said, " I had to travel post, 



A RUSSIAN TELEGA. 


with half a dozen others, in a springless telega , which made 
every bone in our bodies sore as we went south with a guard 
of half-savage Cossacks of the Don, for what with robbers, 
rebellious serfs, and wolves, Russia was not the quiet, lifeless 
country it’s got to be in these milk-and-water times. 

w It was forty-two years ago,” continued the old General, 
w and Yermoloff had scarcely made the villages on the south 
banks of the Don safe against the Kabardans. ^Ye reached 
Tcherask in six weeks of constant travel 5 and although famine 
and sickness had ravaged the villages of the Kabarda, the first 
evening that we entered Stavropol a Russian rode up to tell of 
















246 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

a village burned to the ground, and a massacre of which he 
was the only survivor. 

" A sotnia of Cossacks was upon the trail in thirty minutes, 

but at the gorge 
of the moun¬ 
tains they were 
turned back with 
half their number 
out of the saddle, 
— and that, in 
those days, meant 
dead, for no quar¬ 
ter was given on 
either side.” 

" How horri¬ 
ble!” said Rob, 
simply. 

" It is hardly 
any better in your 
own Indian army, 
sir,” shouted the 
irascible mili- 
taire , growing 
red in the face. 
”1 have seen them 
fight on the fron¬ 
tier, and know 
how much mercy 
their bayonets show to Sihk, Afghan, and Beloochee.” 

"I am not English,” said Rob, quietly; "I am an Ameri¬ 
can. But I did not mean to presume to judge; only it seemed 
so strange.” 

"An American, eh?” said the General, heartily. "I beg 



A RUSSIAN NEWS-BEARER. 











AN INVITATION. 


247 


your pardon, young man, for I like your people. Come and 
see me whenever you will* you will be welcome. But where 
was I? Oh, yes! in the Caucasus. 

" Well, I stayed there from 1825 to 1848, when Schamyl 
burst into Kabarda from Daghestan and the Caspian, with 
twelve thousand Circassians. We had been hard put to it if 
the western tribes had joined him, but over thirty years of 
hopeless struggle had cowed them, and eleven years later 
Schamyl was himself conquered. 

" But come, gentlemen, you have some weeks to wait be¬ 
fore spring is fairly open. What say you to going with me 
out to my estate at Zimagovia, at the foot of the Valdai Moun¬ 
tains. You will have a chance to see the country, and per¬ 
haps kill some wolves or bears, and I shall be glad of your 
company.” 

" We should like it, of all things,” said Fortescue. "When 
do you go? ” 

" Go! why to-night, sirs. No, to-morrow by the train at 
nine o’clock, temps militaire . Is it agreed?” 

"Certainly,” said Fortescue. "We will meet you at the 
depot.” And rising, the party took their leave to get ready for 
the journey. 

The old General would not permit this, however, until he 
had ordered refreshments; and touching a bell, the servant-— 
evidently an old soldier—brought in a curious silver salver, 
with cakes painted with colored frosting, figs, prunes, grapes, 
wines, and brandy. An assistant followed with the inevitable 
samovar , or Russian tea-urn, from which the Imperial Tchai , 
unknown in lands beyond the great seas, and brought to the 
great fairs of Nijni-Novgorod overland from beyond the Great 
Wall, was poured into bubble-like glasses, in which a slice of 
lemon and French lump-sugar replaced the cream and sugar 
dear to English and American tastes; sandwiches of German 


248 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


ham and Caspian caviar, partridges from the Valdai, and a 
huge bustard from the steppes, were set on the sideboard; and 
after an excellent lunch the party rose again to depart. As 

they did so, a 
new-comer was 
announced, and 
General Gourof, 
who had been 
eating like an 
ogre and laugh¬ 
ing in truly Ho¬ 
meric abandon, 
uttered something 
that sounded very 
much like an oath 
as the footman 
announced " Cap¬ 
tain Demetrius 
Lewinski.” 

Then entered, 
stepping noise¬ 
lessly over pol¬ 
ished floor and 
the spoils of bear 
and wolf which 
did duty as rugs, 
a tall, elegant per¬ 
son, whose nicely- 
cut citizen’s dress 
showed only in his fur-bordered cloak and the lapels across his 
breast any evidence of his Polish origin. He made his apol¬ 
ogies, and went through the ceremony of introduction with 



CAPTAIN DEMETRIUS LEWINSKI. 















A POLISH GENTLEMAN. 


249 


perfect tact and self-possession, and hearing of the proposed 
trip to Valdai, instantly preferred a request. 

"’Tis not too late for a wolf hunt, General,— that is, unless 
the weather becomes much warmer than of late; and I see by 
the Golos that a mother and child were eaten at Prosski Sta¬ 
tion only yesterday. These English gentlemen would like, I 
am sure, to kill some of these devils, and I would like to 
renew our sport of two winters ago.” 

" With all my heart,” said the General, his face aglow with 
the prospect of a battue . " But make haste, for we start to¬ 

morrow morning.” 

" I will not fail to be there by to-morrow night, or the next 
day at farthest; ” and the stranger bade a graceful farewell to 
the travellers. 

"What a fine-looking man,” said Harley, sleepily, as they 
were about to retire. "'A Polish nobleman, beggared by the 
last revolution, so the General whispered/ I think you said, 
Fortescue.” 

" I like the Poles,” said Rob, his eyes lighting up. " Kos¬ 
ciusko and Pulaski, you know, fought to set us free in the 
Revolution, and Pulaski was killed in trying to take Sa¬ 
vannah.” 

"Ah!” laughed Fortescue, "you Americans, though you 
won, think more of that war than we who were whipped, as I 
doubt not we deserved. But,” continued he, growing graver, 
“ no one must know that I was ordered here, for just now it 
might end in our being sent out of the country, perhaps to a 
prison or Siberia. Remember, Rob, to all men, and women 
too, I am Captain Fortescue of the —th, and travelling for 
pleasure — and information.” 

"I will remember,” said Rob. "What luggage shall we 
take, sir?” 

"Luggage, Rob? I declare I always forget your anoma- 


250 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

lous duties in that line. We’ll take everything. Come, Will, 
let us help our valet in his menial duties.” 

Rob broke into a laugh. " Now, you mean it kindly, but I 
don’t feel ashamed of my duties or think them hard, though I 
can see how you would feel in my place. Among our folks 
nothing honest that a man can do is thought disgraceful; and 
if I were rich I’d rather pack up my own trunk than leave it 
to a servant, who can never know just what you want, or why 
you want it.” 

” He’s got us there, Will,” said Fortescue; and the young 
gentlemen were soon overseeing and helping in the rather 

unpleasant process 
of replacing scores 
of articles flung 
out in anticipation 
of a longer stay in 
St. Petersburg. As 
Will was about to retire, however, he was seen to place a 
brace of cartridges in his breast-pocket. 

"What is that for?” asked Fortescue. "Are you going 
to assassinate the Tzar, or shoot along the railroad line to¬ 
morrow? ” 

" That Polish gentleman,” said he, " spoke of wolves eating 
some people at Prosski. I hardly think they will try to eat us, 
but we might possibly shoot one on the road to the mountains.” 

"Quite right,” said Fortescue. "We’ll carry half a dozen 
cartridges in our gun-cases, and have our revolvers ready as 
well.” 

The next morning they were met at the depot by Gourof, 
and were soon rushing across the massive railway bridge and 
southward through a level country but sparsely populated, for 
when the Emperor had the contract made for the construction 
of the railroad, he took a straight ruler and drew the route to 








AT PROSSKI. 


2 5 1 


be followed to Moscow with a single stroke of the pencil; and 
60 the large places lie along the water-routes of Russia rather 
than along the railways. 

A three-hours’ ride, however, landed them safely at the fine 
brick station at Prosski, where a few dozen greasy mujiks and 
the uniformed station-master were the only persons visible. 



A PUBLIC ROAD IN RUSSIA. 


" My rascals have not yet come with the horses. Anton,” 
he continued, "when didst thou receive the message?” 

" It is here, bavin” said the old fellow simply. " It came 
half an hour ago, but Paul Ivanovitch will soon start with his 
telega for Valdai, and it is not so very full.” 

The General growled an irascible assent; but when the 
lumbering vehicle drove up it seemed, by the number of out¬ 
siders, that the huge ark must be running over with insiders. 
It turned out otherwise, however, a popa and popadi?ia — 
a Greek priest and his wife — proving to be the only inside 
passengers. 





252 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

It was late that night when, by dint of much pushing in the 
horrible chasms dignified by the name of roads, the huge dili¬ 
gence arrived at Valdai, and with great pleasure our travellers 
alighted at the rude inn built of logs squared and jointed by 
the short, sharp hatchet which the true Russian peasant carries 
as the Spaniard does his navaja or the Costa Rican his machete , 
with which clumsy but keen weapon he builds and even rudely 
ornaments his house, breaks his sour black barley bread, cuts 
his salted cucumbers, onions, and dry fish, whittles out almost 
anything in common use, slays wolf, bear, and glutton, and 
not unfrequently murders his enemies or oppressors; for de~ 
spite his seeming stupid good-nature, the Russian peasant is, 
when driven too far, merciiess beyond all other peoples. 

Its size, however, seemed to promise little accommodation 
to the weary and hungry travellers, and even less prospect of* 
food and rest when the interior showed but a single room, in 
which a closely-curtained bed, a few rude settees, a table 
and buffet, with a few dishes, were the only furniture, if we 
except the inevitable huge tile-stove, and the pictures of some 
very truculent-looking saints, before which the keeper of the 
inn, with his wife and son, were engaged in prayer, while a 
couple of children, half asleep, leaned against one leg of the 
table. 

"Holla, Ivan Feodorovitch! ” cried the General, sharply; 
"how long are we to be kept shivering and hungry at your 
door? Out with your samovar , Vassilissa, and get us some hot 
tea; and you, Vassili [to the son], must take us over to the 
Place.” 

Instantly the men and woman broke off their devotions; 
and while the latter rushed off to the preparation of the desired 
tchai , the men thrust great billets of wood into the huge stove, 
and, pulling off the boots and wrappings of the travellers, 
placed rude settees near the centre of the grateful warmth. 


. 

THE INSPECTOR’S DAUGHTER. 253 

That’s right, Ivan,” said Gourof. " And now for the 
berlin, Vassili. Put in your best horses; for we must be home 
by daylight, and the roads are fearfully cut up below.” 

" ihe roads are good, baring said Vassili, quietly. "The 
roads were never better; but the wolves, bad enough all win- 



INTERIOR OF A RUSSIAN PEASANT’S HOME. 


ter, were never worse than now. Poor Lisaveta, the daughter 
of Alexey Mitrophanoff, the kvartalni — ” (police inspector.) 

"Yes, yes!” cried the General, fiercely; "and a nice girl 
she is too.” 

"She was a good girl,” said Vassilissa, sadly; "but night 
before last she went down the road to gather some twigs of 
spruce for beer. It was still light, but a little darkling, when 
we heard shrieks. The men took their hatchets and pitch- 
forks, and rushed down the road; but she was dead and half 
eaten before they got to the spot.” 

" Ay, and the snow was padded like a sheep-pen, bavin? 


















2 54 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


said Vassili, who evidently had no lust for a night journey 
along the slopes of the Valdai range. 

The General’s face was terrible in its angry determination. 
"Dog of a serf! ” he cried, angrily; "out with the berlin and 
horses at once. If there were ten wolves for every one in the 
forest, and each wolf a devil, I would be at home by day¬ 
light! ” 

Poor Vassili crouched into the farthest corner, as if fearing 
a blow, but essayed one more expostulation. "But, good 

barin , reflect. We have not 
a single rifle or pistol; and 
though by taking the berlin 
you may escape, the horses 
and I will be eaten to a cer¬ 
tainty.” 

The General’s short-lived 
wrath was over; and Fortes- 
cue, who had been about to 
expostulate, seated himself. 
" Michel,” said Gourof to his soldier-valet, " get the gun-cases 
from the tarrantasse, and pick out the ball cartridges.” And 
five minutes later, three English breechloaders, and the rifled 
carbines of Michel and his master, glittered before the aston¬ 
ished eyes of the starosta and his son. 

"Pardon, barin” said the latter; "I feared not for myself 
more than for you. What! I have driven more than once 
with a roast pig trailing behind the sledge. Eat and drink 
well; I shall soon be ready.” 

Half an hour later the lumbering vehicle, with Vassili, 
Michel, and Fortescue on the box, and the General and younger 
men inside, was rattling along the hardly-frozen sleigh-track 
that wound through the forest; and as they passed a little 
opening where the snow beside a spruce coppice seemed 



“DOG OF A SERF! 






FIGHTING THE WOLVES. 


255 


stained and trampled, Vassili crossed himself and muttered, 
"Lisaveta! ” The thick leather side-curtains have been rolled 
up, the windows in the wooden back and front thrown open; 
and as the shadows deepen, a long, melancholy howl, afar off 
through the arches of the forest, rises on the air, and is an¬ 
swered like an echo by another on the right toward the moun- 



RUSSIAN WOLF. 


tains. Another and another sound nearer and nearer, aVd the 
horses snort and plunge until their frothy spume flecks their 
broad chests with bars of foam. 

"Be ready, sirs,” says the General under his breath; and 
Rob, who sits on tfle forward seat with the muzzle of his gun 
out of the right-hand window, and beside Harley who guards 
the left, catches a glimpse of two moving spots of lambent 
light, which are fixed on his with a strange malignity that for 
21 


256 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

the moment almost freezes his blood. The next instant he 
raises his gun quickly; and as the heavy charge of buck-shot 
cuts through the fir leaves, an angry, snarling yelp issues from 
the cover, and, with a convulsive leap, a huge dog-wolf falls 
dying in the road. 

"Well done, boy!” growls Gourof, cocking his carbine. 
"That will bring them from the covert;” and even as he 
speaks a volley from the coach-box drops two of the savage 
beasts just ready to launch themselves upon the frightened 
horses. All was now clear in front; but behind, with oft- 
repeated, impatient, snarling cries, a long, snaky line of moving 
t objects came galloping after the berlin, which, as it drew 
nearer, showed first the lambent, malignant eyes, then the 
gaunt and shaggy outlines, and at last, as they gained upon the 
flying diligence , whirled along by its steeds in a frenzy of fear, 
the gaping jaws, glittering fangs, and blooded tongues of the 
hated monsters. 

Bang! bang! The General’s carbine, fired at close range, 
laid the two leading wolves writhing convulsively in the death- 
agony across the narrow road; but though the third actually 
stumbled over his hapless congeners, the pack followed on 
unheeding, and, rushing up before Gourof could reload, passed 
on either side, only to be shot down by Harley and Rob, both 
of whom, even in the fearful excitement of the moment, 
could not fail to kill, so close and ferocious were the wolves, 
one of whom actually leaped against the open window, and, 
falling, was crushed under the wheel of the diligence . A 
general rush succeeds; but all have reloaded, and half a dozen 
more fall; and as the vehicle flies onward, Gourof mutters, as 
he reloads, "Bah! ’tis not like a sledge, young sirs. ’Tis like 
shooting from an iron cage.” 

But as they whirl around a turn of the road the hinder 
wheel slides on the glare ice, the crazy axle breaks as the hub 


SHARP WORK. 


257 


strikes a stump, and as Vassili lashes his horses, the crushed 
wood and rotten iron begins to sway and give under the pres¬ 
sure; while the wolves, as if comprehending the straits of their 
slayers, appear to be more numerous than ever. Vassili seizes 
his hatchet and severs the traces, while overhead Rob sees the 
knife of Michel cut with a grinding sweep a large aperture in 
the leather covering, through which, one after another, the out¬ 
siders drop down into the interior. 

Not an instant too soon, however, for in a moment more 
the pack is upon them. In front and rear, on either side, under 
the impenetrable flooring, and snarling down from the very 
roof, the gray fiends swarm over the disabled vehicle. The 
breechloaders roar incessantly, the sharp crack of the carbines 
speak at each discharge the death-summons of the huge man- 
slayers; the hatchet of Vassili hews off shaggy paws and cleaves 
intruding heads to the grinning jaws; and still the horde seems 
more numerous, more ferocious than ever. Then Fortescue, 
with a glance at the General, speaks to his companions, " Re¬ 
volvers, lads!” and, at the word, each of the travellers draws 
from a secret holster a heavy five-shooter, and for a moment a 
very ring of fire seems to surround the besieged. Almost 
every shot tells, and for a moment the wolves draw back, 
cowed and beaten. 

Meanwhile Gourof and Michel have reloaded the guns, and 
at a second volley the wolves turn and slink slowly away into 
the forest. 

"You have saved us, Sir Englishman,” said Gourof to 
Fortescue, "but you have broken the law in carrying such 
weapons in Russia. Nevertheless, your secret must be kept. 
Vassili! Michel! swear by the life of the Tzar that you will 
never betray that these wolves were killed by the pistols of the 
Englishman.” 

"And now, gentlemen,” said Gourol, more pleasantly, "we 


258 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

have nothing to do but to make ourselves comfortable until 
morning. Vassili, make a fire beside this door. Michel, roll 
down the curtains on the other side. Gentlemen, have your 
weapons at hand, but join with me in a little lunch until our 
people arrive.” 

An hour later two or three sledges filled with men, fol- 



ARRIVAL OF THE GENERAL AT HIS ESTATE. 


lowed by a lighter diligence , came on through the woods, and 
many hands made light work of transferring the baggage to the 
new carriage, from which at daylight the General alighting, 
was nearly overwhelmed with embraces by his anxious tenants 
of the Eastern Valdai. 

The excitement and fatigue of their journey, and a snow¬ 
storm that had set in shortly after their arrival, prevented our 
travellers from seeing much of the estate for two or three days, 
but in-doors the time passed very pleasantly in the inspection 
of many curiosities gathered in campaigning in the Caucasus 
and among the half-civilized marauders of Central Asia. 









































AT ZIMAGOVIA. 


2 59 




Madame Helene, the widow of the General’s only brother, 
presided with great dignity at the table, and left nothing 
undone to make the travellers comfortable, while the gambols 
and mischievous merriment of her children by turns delighted 
the veteran or excited his irrepressible wrath. 

On the fourth day Lewinski arrived in a sledge drawn by 



NEPHEWS AND NIECES. 


three horses and driven by Vassili, who had been amply re¬ 
warded for his faithfulness and cool courage by the General 
and Fortescue. The Pole was made welcome, and all the 
evening was spent talking of the coming wolf-hunt and kin¬ 
dred subjects; but Gourof was seldom in the room, and seemed 
ill at ease and anxious for some reason about Vassili, who had 
started on his return in a snow-storm, although by ten o’clock 
it had cleared off, and all was moonlight. 

Rob, who had been out strolling through the hamlet, spoke 
to Fortescue of a most dramatic parting which he had wit¬ 
nessed between a middle-aged and powerful peasant and his 












2 6 o 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 




wife and daughter, and as Lewinski showed a languid interest 
in the matter, had spoken of the man’s martial and rugged 

bearing and peculiar 
garb. 

"Ah, that must 
be KorpanofF,” said 
Lewinski, quietly. 
" He has been both 
but I did not know—” Just then the Gen- 
e subject was left unfinished. 

The next morning, however, the General was in a terrible 
humor. Zina and Demiane, who had carelessly smashed a 
valuable Chinese vase, were solemnly condemned to the knout, 
and the punishment duly administered by two stout peasants, 
who chuckled inwardly while pretending to lay on with might 
and main, but really 
doing little more 
than frighten the 
culprits. That 
evening, however, a 
messenger from 
Valdai put him in 
better humor, and 
all the preparations 
were made for a 
wolf-hunt on that 
night; but a rain¬ 
storm set in, and 
for several days all 
were again confined 
to the house. 

Gourof, during this interval, was by turns savage and irascible 
or coldly silent, but Lewinski was especially affable and en- 









A DISCOVERY. 


26 l 


tertaining, and rarely left the Englishmen alone from morning 
till night. Rob, however, at the close of the storm took his 
gun, and took a turn through the woods and the village, los¬ 
ing himself a lit¬ 
tle, and coming 
out, unexpectedly 
to himself, in the 
rear of a hut a 
mile or two from 
where he had set 
out. 

It was nearly 
dark, and, to his 
great surprise, he 
saw Lewinski, 
wrapped in his 
great cloak, in 
close conversa¬ 
tion with a wo¬ 
man, whose dress 
was finer than 
that of the poor 
peasant ^girls, so 
far as he had seen. 

Both gesticulated 
freely in talking, 
and often pointed 
toward the vil¬ 
lage. Several 

times he thought he could discern the names "Gourof” and 
"Fortescue,” and he felt somehow that there was mystery 
enough in the affair to warrant his returning to the house 
as secretly as possible. 



THE PLOTTERS. 





























262 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


On his return he told Mr. Fortescue what he had seen, 
and to his surprise the latter took it very seriously. "I am 
not afraid to tell you, my boy, that I am in some danger. I 
had thought to keep it a secret from you; but my mission here 
for the English Government in war times would cost me my 
life on the gallows. Fortunately I have no papers here, and 
the few plans I have made are so well concealed at St. Peters¬ 
burg that I think 
them secure; but 
we must be very 
cautious hence¬ 
forth, and perhaps 
flee for our liberty, 
if not our lives. I have already thought of sending Harley 
and you back to England, or allowing you to proceed on your 
travels.” 

" It will be harder to manage three than one or even two. 
While we are together we are safer than apart,” said Rob* 
simply. 

" There’s something in that,” said Fortescue, starting. ”1 
will go with you down the Volga.” 

The next day the General took Fortescue’s arm to show him 
the grounds, and led him off to a seat under the lee of a clump 
of evergreens. "Captain Fortescue,” said he when they were 
seated, "you must trust me with your secret if you wish to get 
out of Russia alive.” 

Fortescue was about to mutter something, he knew not 
exactly what, but Gourof held up his huge finger. " I don’t 
care to know why you are suspected; but I do want to know 
if there is any reason why you should be. And if you promise 
that henceforth nothing but the usual plans of a traveller for 
pleasure will occupy your mind, I will secure you from dangers 



“ HE IS A SPY! ” 




LEWINSKI THE SPY. 263 

which I feel must surround one under surveillance of Deme¬ 
trius Lewinski.” 

” He is a spy, then! ” said Fortescue. 

" He is a spy! ” repeated the General. 

Fortescue smiled. "I have no further desire to see or hear 
aught but as a traveller.” 

Gourof grinned intelligently. "Then I will tell you. Kor- 
panoff, a Pole, banished for political reasons, saved my life in 
Siberia, and I procured his release, but only after the greatest 
difficulty. He has once been outside the limits assigned him, 
and lives in constant fear of Lewinski, who was the traitor 
through whom he was first banished. As your young Ameri¬ 
can friend noticed, he set out for Valdai as soon as Demetrius 
arrived, fleeing for 
his life, although a 
dense snow-storm 
was raging. 

"When Vassili 
saw me, he told me 
secretly that Le¬ 
winski had made 
him stop where our 
carriage was disa¬ 
bled, and tell him 
all about it. Vas¬ 
sili told him read¬ 
ily enough, but said 
nothing of revolv¬ 
ers until Lewinski, 
who had searched amid the snow, found one or two of the 
empty copper cases, and then he had to acknowledge that you 
had pistols. This in itself would be sufficient to make trouble 
when these cursed Nihilists, and all kinds of conspirators, are 



FLIGHT OF KORPANOFF. 

















264 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


hatching plots and assassinations; but Lewinski has some other 
point against you, or he would have you arrested at once. I 
think, however, that he is a little afraid of my dislike, and in¬ 
tends to give you trouble after leaving here.” 

" What, then, am I to do?” asked Fortescue, quietly. 

"When Vassili returned that night,” continued Gourof, 



VASSILI AND KORPANOFF. 


" he came up with Korpanoff, who carried a bundle and turned 
suddenly as the sledge came upon him, holding a dagger in 
his left hand. He, however, accepted Vassili’s offer of a ride, 
and sent me from Valdai word that he was going to Perm. 
Now, if you wish, I will send all my vehicles and horses away 
on various pretexts, and Vassili shall meet you a couple of 
versts in the forest. You shall descend the Volga to Stavro¬ 
pol or Samara, but re-ascend to Spask, and go up the Kawa to 
Perm. From thence you can cross Siberia, or enter China by 
the route of the tea caravans. Down the Volga, I cannot hope 






A STATE PRISONER. 265 

that you will escape the police and the military telegraph. 
How do you like my plan?” 

W I shall never forget your kindness,” said Fortescue, with 
some feeling. " And yet I can hardly believe that Lewinski 
could be so treacherous.” 

" Captain,” said Gourof, with a cold smile, " Lewinski’s 
father was a very noble man, but engaged in the same plots 
in which his son figured by turns as conspirator and traitor. 
The father was im¬ 
prisoned. He was 
old and weak, and 
soon fell into a de¬ 
cline. One night a 
man very heavily 
bearded arrived at 
the prison, which 
for the time being 
was under my 
charge as com¬ 
mandant, and pre¬ 
sented an order 
directing that the 
beare^ be allowed 
to see " State Pris¬ 
oner No. 29.” I obeyed, and, giving him a lantern, accom¬ 
panied him to the door. He was gone but a moment, and 
returned with the light. ' He is dead, sir,’ said the stranger in 
a cold and unruffled voice. And as he set down the lantern 
his beard slipped to one side. It was Lewinski! But here 
he comes. Be on your guard henceforward.” 

And yet, despite the terrible danger which threatened him 
through this very man, Fortescue, a few hours later, was walk¬ 
ing almost arm and arm with him through the grounds, talking 












266 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


freely of the proposed trip down the Volga to Astrachan, and 
thence through the Caucasus to Armenia, Syria, and Jerusa¬ 
lem. And Lewinski, who " had seen some service there,” 
told him of the wonders of the lower river; of the great fish¬ 
eries of sturgeon, seal, and herring; of the savage mountaineers 
of Trans-Caucasia, who still wear the ancient mail-shirts of 
linked chains, and carry such battle-axes as in Europe have 
been seen only in the museums of col¬ 
lectors for centuries past. He told of 
their strange funeral processions, in which 
warriors loaded down with heavy chains, 
girt with naked blades whose sharp edges 
at every motion lacerated the skin, and 
pierced by keen-pointed skivers in fore¬ 
head, arm, and breast, are followed by 
others who hold their keen scimeters with 
the edge toward their foreheads, and at 
a given signal seam the forehead with 
gashes from which the red blood sprinkles 
their spotless mantles. He told of the 
bravery of Lesghian and Karbardan; of 
battle with matchlock and hindshall 
against cannon, rifle, and the lances of the 
Don Cossacks; and by degrees he spoke of the tyranny of 
Russian governors, the cruelties of massacre and pillage, the 
partition of Poland, the woes of his own people. He was a 
wonderful talker, this faithless spy; but Fortescue humored 
him to the top of his bent. 

"Ah,” said he, as they separated near the outer door, "if 
you could only go with us down the Volga, our trip would be 
perfectly delightful!” 

"I cannot go with you,” said Lewinski; "but I will send 
you this very night letters to the commandant of Samara, and 








gourof’s strategy. 


267 


he will, I doubt not, use his influence to recommend you to the 
good offices of the proper authorities, wherever your travels 
may lead you.” 

The next day strong parties of men and horses were sent 
out to secure forage, lumber, and masons’ materials, until 
scarcely a man was left in the village, and only a single berlin 



GENERAL GOUROF AND THE SPY. 


in the stables of Gourof, who invited his guests to drive with 
him to the ancient city of Novgorod, by Lake Ilmen,— a long 
day’s ride. Fortescue excused himself on account of a sick 
headache. Harley and Rob preferred to shoot rabbits, if the 
General would excuse them, and, in fact, were off* after break¬ 
fast the next morning, while the General, in great good-humor, 
went with Lewinski down to the stables, where the berlin, 
already harnessed, awaited them. His nephews and nieces 
ran to meet him, bearing his choicest bearskin robe, with half 








268 


DRIFTING ROUND THE .WORLD. 


of it trailing in the mud, but he only laughed, and bade them 
put it in the berlin. 

An hour after the General had departed Demiane and Paul, 
the elder sons of Madame Helene, 
led Harley and Rob to a point on 
the road to Valdai, where they 
found Vassili, who had come to the 
place and taken Fortescue and 
their baggage on the old telega in 
which they had had their memora¬ 
ble fight with the wolves. 

" Farewell! farewell! May 
God go with you! ” said the kindly 
young Russians, as they stood in 
brotherly fondness under the great 
beeches; and with this kindly adieu 
the lumbering vehicle started for 
demiane AND paul. Prosski, from whence our travel¬ 

lers took the cars for Moscow. 



MOSCOW. 


269 


CHAPTER XIII. 

MOSCOW TO NICKOLIEVETSK. — SIBERIA. — CHINA.-THE 

" PIONEER” AND HER CAPTAIN. 

T Moscow our travellers made sufficient stay to visit the 



l \ principal sights of that Holy City, in which each Emperor 
is crowned, where the Czarowitch, or successor to the crown, 
must be presented when of age, and the Czar makes a pilgrim¬ 
age, or, rather, visits at least twice a year. A grand, impres¬ 
sive, and strangely barbaric sight it is to the tourist who, for 
the first time, from some neighboring eminence gazes down 
upon the undulating sea of gilded cupolas, gorgeously-painted 
domes, roofs of green and brown and gray, which encircle the 
massive snow-white walls, frowning battlements, and dazzling 
crest of the Kremlin, while over all towers, grimly-grand and 
imposing, the great tower of Ivan Veliki. 

Five hundred spires and cupolas ascend heaven-ward from 
as many churches, chapels, and religious houses. Every hue of 
the rainbow, every device of the colorist and gilder, weather¬ 
cocks, crosses, and finials of every design, heavily gilded, and 
all that European art, added to the barbaric and garish splen¬ 
dor of Asia, can conceive, have combined to make Moscow a 
scene of strange and wondrous beauty. 

Through the narrow, winding, and involved streets, clad in 
their respective costumes, speaking their own tongue, and 
often carrying their own weapons or peculiar commodities, 
swarm representatives of an hundred distinct nationalities. 


2JO 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


tribes, septs, and savage races; and at every street corner and 
bridge-head the numberless saints of the Greek church, each 
enshrined behind a burning taper, receive the adorations of 
every passer-by who is loyal to the Czar and Holy Russia. 
Regardless of rank, profession, business, vicious pursuit, or 
even the contemplation of crime, the head-covering is. rever¬ 
ently lifted, and crossing themselves devoutly, and muttering 
the prayers taught them in youth, nobleman and peasant, priest 
and soldier, tradesman and robber, alike join in common 
adoration. 

Entering the Kremlin by the Sacred Gate, the tourists 
ascended the tower of Ivan Veliki, and from a height of nearly 
three hundred feet sat and gazed upon the city below and 
around them. At last Fortescue broke the silence. "I wish 
we could stay longer, but Gourof can detain Lewinski but 
three days at farthest. Then he will get my message of regret 
at departing, and forty-eight hours or even less will bring him 
close to our heels. We are to leave his packet at Stavropol, 
but we shall not go to the Caucasus.” 

A visit to the Arsenal, where, among other trophies, three 
hundred and sixty-five cannon lost by Napoleon in his terrible 
winter retreat in 1812, were curiously inspected, ended the 
day’s sight-seeing, and the party were returning to the hotel, 
•when at the corner of two streets they came suddenly upon a 
suggestive and melancholy spectacle — a convoy of prisoners 
destined for Siberia. Chained and fettered, and marching two 
and two; illy clad, dirty, and looking like men without hope, 
the wretches, followed by their military escort, marched past 
on their way to an exile which entailed a journey of from 
fifteen hundred to two thousand miles, and largely on foot, 
across the inhospitable wastes of Siberia. Many of the by¬ 
standers stepped forward as the mournful procession passed, 
and gave food and even money to the poor wretches; and here 


A CONVOY OF PRISONERS. 271 

and there a heart-broken woman or sobbing child kissed the 
woful faces they were never to behold again. 

An aged man, of higher birth than the rest, and relieved of 
all irons except the leg-fetters, which prevented an attempt to 
escape, approached the Englishmen. Fortescue and Harley 
each gave him several roubles, and Rob was not far behind¬ 
hand. The old man uttered a prayer in Russian for such gen¬ 
erosity, and the sad cortege passed along 
and was lost in the thronging multi¬ 
tudes. 

" ? Tis a sad fate,” said Fortescue, as 
they were once more alone in their own 
room, “but it may well be our own if 
Gourof should play us false. He has 
given me letter^ to the commandant 
here, and he is to let me have a podo - 
rojna , or order allowing us to procure 
post-horses as we require them. Le- 
winski will learn from my telegram that 
I have been obliged to take my leave 
suddenly, and may despair of intercept¬ 
ing me, and give up the pursuit, thinking 
that I have returned to England.” 

After supper Fortescue called on the commandant, a tall, 
soldierly veteran, who read the letter handed him, very care¬ 
fully, and eyed Fortescue keenly at its close. 

" My old comrade asks a strange favor, and yet I have con¬ 
fidence enough in his judgment to grant it. He admits that 
you came in the interests of the English War Office, to take 
notice of matters which, in case of a war between us, would 
help your nation against ours, but that you have given your 
word of honor that you will no longer pursue that line of 
research. You shall have every favor, so long as you keep 



22 


272 


DRIFTING ROUND THE) WORLD. 


your promise; but it may be that at St. Petersburg they may 
look differently at your offence.” 

” Here,” he said, returning a few moments later, “ is the 
order, and a special letter, to be used only in case of great 
need, and then you must give it only to a military command¬ 
ant. It may be that you will not need it, and that, if used, it 
may not help you; but life is made up chances, and I know 
that in many places in the Caucasus, and even Turkestan and 
Siberia itself, there are many comrades of General Aksakoff 
who would do much to serve me. Nay! no thanks, sir,” said 
the veteran; "I do as I do for my comrade. Perhaps we may 
meet hereafter, sword in hand, by the Sea of Marmora, where 
Russian fleets shall yet be as free to sail as on the Baltic.” 

With suitable acknowledgments Fortescue took his leave, 
and the party took the cars for Nijni-Novgorod, which they 
found to be a rather dirty and far from lively city of some 
thirty-five thousand inhabitants only, although, in the season 
of its famous yearly fair, ten times the number are often pres¬ 
ent, brought together from all parts of Europe and Asia to this 
great centre of overland and water communication. 

The ” Alexis,” the steamboat in which their passage was 
taken for Stavropol, was much like the ordinary English river- 
boats, with masts, deck-houses, bridges for the steersman and 
pilot, etc. The decks, however, were filled with logs of wood 
for fuel, and the piles were covered with passengers of the 
lower classes bound down the Volga. The broken ice from 
above was still coming down the stream; but it was thin and 
rotten, and the powerful steamer easily broke it up as she 
swept down with the current. 

Below Cheboksary, a small town of only four hundred 
inhabitants, the spires of no less than fourteen churches at¬ 
tracted attention, especially the bell-tower of one, which the 
captain said was even more out of the perpendicular than the 


CURIOUS TRIBES. 


2 73 


leaning tower of Pisa. At this part of the river, sand-banks 
abounded, and two men with poles were kept sounding the 
channel, announcing the result, at every plunge of the pole, in 
the usual nautical sing-song common to all nations. 

From this point to Kasan the villages were principally 
inhabited by two curious tribes, the Mordva and the Chuvashes. 
The former, once a powerful and warlike heathen nation, the 
very scourge of the Russians, were nominally converted to 
Christianity a century ago, but are said to observe their ancient 
customs and religious rites as strictly as ever. Nothing can 
induce them to try new implements or novelties of any kind; 
and living principally on pulse and sour milk, they eat little 
meat, except the flesh of the great hare of the steppes , which 
they consider a great delicacy. The men have adopted the 
usual moujik dress, but the women wear long white robes 
trimmed with red, and over it a white caftan kept close at the 
waist with a red belt. When a young man marries, he induces 
his sweetheart to make an appointment without her parents’ 
knowledge. Then he tells his parents and the priest, who 
performs the ceremony, and the bridegroom has to do battle 
with the witnesses for his bride, or, as is generally the case, 
buys her with a sufficient quantity of vodki to get all hands 
intoxicated. 

The Chuvashes were a fierce-looking people, tall and 
straight, with decidedly Tartar features. Both sexes wore 
white tunics, fitting closely at the neck and falling to the 
knees; while the men wore a cap much resembling a common 
dice-box. The women wore their hair loose, and intertwined 
with strings of gold coins, while others had a kind of breast¬ 
plate, also made of coins linked together. Others again dis¬ 
played a very peculiar head-dress, terminating in bows of broad 
ribbon. They are farmers, and raise large quantities of honey 
and fat cattle, and feed principally on barley bread, milk, 


274 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

and the salted fish of the Volga. They are still heathen, wor¬ 
shipping the great Tora and his wife, mother of all other gods, 
Tora-Amysh. Their devil is the Chaitan, or Sheitan, of the 
Arabs, and their priests are styled Djemmas. Superstitious to 
the last degree, they fear lest the ghosts of their departed 
friends should revisit them, and therefore bury with them food 
and clothes, renewing the supply every few months, laying the 
gifts on their graves and saying, "We pray for you to almighty 
Tora. Be at peace among yourselves, and do not come back 
to us.” Great crowds of Russians often attend these ceremo- 
' nies, who, after the Chuvashes have departed, rifle the graves, 
although no greater insult can be offered than to say, " Thou 
wearest a shirt from the grave of a Chuvash.” 

At Isadij, a mere hamlet, where a number of the large 
lighters common on the Volga lay moored, the "Alexis” 
moored for the night, and our travellers attended with the 
captain a marriage among this singular people. The wife, 
they were told, had been bought with honey and cattle, and, 
on being brought in, went into an inner room, where she 
remained alone for some time, while the husband and friends 
awaited her return in the most complete silence. At last she 
re-appeared, conducted by her mother, and walked three times 
around the apartment 'with the sun; after which the groom 
removed her veil and substituted a cap, the badge of marriage. 
She in return pulled off the groom’s boots of soft leather in 
token of subservience, and the ceremony was over. 

The next day they encountered some villages of the Chere- 
misses, which never by any chance have over thirty houses, 
the entrances of which all face the rising sun. Turf walls 
divide their farms, and, beneath trees held sacred under the 
name of Karama, their sorcerers offer sacrifices as their fathers 
did before Ivan the Terrible bowed them to the Christian yoke 
with fire and sword. They are doubtless of the Finnish race, 


KAZAN AND STAVROPOL. 


275 


and much resemble the tribes already spoken of, but their 
women dress in the national colors, — white bordered with 
black. 

At Kazan they found that the city proper lay seven versts, 
or nearly five miles, from the port, and proposed to pay it a 
visit on returning in the boat for Perm, which they expected 
to meet at Samara. The scenery became more interesting as 
they descended, the forests becoming more dense, and often 
clothing banks which sloped upward to a height of seven to 
eight hundred feet. 

" There are many bears and wolves here,” says the captain, 
an unmistakable Scot, to Fortescue. " Once there were rob¬ 
bers an’ pirates, but they’re a’ gone, but the wild beasties are as 
plenty as ever. A’ the bees here are keepit in trees, an’ at 
Stavropol ye’ll maybe like to see how they kill bears an’ save 
their honey.” 

At Stavropol, accordingly, they landed, and, entering the 
woods, found themselves at the feet of several tall beeches, 
whose boles had been denuded of branches for some twenty- 
five feet. At the first branches they could see the little aper¬ 
ture and the passing and repassing bees; but a row of iron 
spikes surrounded the tree, the trunk was bristling with sharp 
hooks and spikes, point upwards, and a ring of similar defences 
made it impossible to reach the hive. 

" They’re often at the top,” said the captain; "but they 
canna’ get at the honey, an’ sooner or later are pierced by the 
hooks below, an’ fa’ on the spike at the bottom.” 

Another tree had a strong plank suspended to a branch by 
four cords, and tied by another, so as to form a shelf directly 
in front of the rest. 

" There’s the best of a’ ” laughed the captain. 

"Why,” said Rob, "I should think that would make it 
easier for the bear to get the honey.” 


276 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


"That’s just what the bear thinks, my man; but dinna ye 
see that to reach the honey he must bite the bit rope round the 
door, an’ as sure as that’s done, he swings awa’ from the tree, 
an’ hings a gude three yards awa’ from any foothold. Gin he 
jumps, he falls an’ braks his bones. Gin he stops, they come 
an’ shoot him.” 

Returning to the boat, they again started for Samara, pass¬ 
ing on the way dozens of huge barges, some of which had 
crews of eighty men and carried from two hundred and fifty to 
three hundred tons of wheat. These reichvahs , as they are 
called, are warped up by anchors carried out by smaller boats, 
and the capstans are worked by hand or steam. A third device 
is the horse-machine boat, invented in 1815, in which a huge 
capstan is worked by from eighty to two hundred horses. A 
device so huge and clumsy of course moves slowly; still they 
will tow boats holding five thousand tons of wheat at the rate 
of fifteen or twenty miles a day. 

"How is it that there are no pirates now?” asked Rob of 
the captain, as they drew near Samara. 

"Ah, laddie, it’s a grewsome story; but in the old days 
there were mony Calmucks, Chermisses, Chuvash, Cossacks, 
an’ desperadoes an’ deserters of a’ kinds, who foraged an’ mur¬ 
dered everywhere. Well, when they took ony, they made a 
great raft, an’ on it a gibbet, an’ stripping the villains, they 
hangit them by iron hooks under the ribs. Then owerhead 
they put placards telling their crimes, an’ ordering all the peo¬ 
ple by no means to succor them, but if the raft grounded, to 
just push it off an’ let them float down the great river; an’ if 
any were found helping the puir wretches they were hangit up 
beside them.” 

" And did any one ever escape with his life? ” asked Harley. 

"Oh, yes!” said the captain. "Sometimes the robbers 
were strong enough for rescue, and saved them, to live or die, 


AT SAMARA. 


277 

as might be. But one, an’ they tell o’ him to this day, got 
his hands loose, cleared himself o’ the hook, swam ashore, an’ 
killin’ a puir shepherd lad, got safe off in his clothes.” 

At Samara the party landed, and found a town of about 
twenty-eight thousand inhabitants, and a port where scores of 
corn barges from three hundred to four hundred feet long lay 
moored and loading. Each had a large gaudily-painted house 
on deck, and their bows were strangely ornamented and 
carved, many having, like the Chinese junks, a pair of large 
eyes painted on the bows. They found the streets nearly im¬ 
passable with mud, however, and at once took refuge at the 
principal inn. 

Here they awaited for several days the " Vladimir,” the next 
boat due on the line from Tver and Nijni-Novgorod; but when 
fourteen hours overdue, a dark night set in, and all agreed that, 
even if near at hand, she would anchor until daylight, and the 

whole party attended a ball at the invitation of Count K-, a 

Captain and favorite with the grim old Colonel, from whom 
Lewinski’s letter of introduction had, of course, been withheld, 
while Gourof’s had secured for the travellers every attention. 

The spring was now far enough advanced to make the out¬ 
door air mildly warm at nightfall; and from the great Concert 
Hall, with its dazzling lights and bursts of mirth and music, a 
wide archway opened into dimly-lighted walks, which led amid 
shrubbery, fountains, and arching trees. Rob did not dance, 
and about midnight seated himself outside on one of the rustic 

settees, where shortly after Count K-joined him. Several 

couples had passed, when a tall and elegantly-dressed pair 
met, as if by chance. 

" They are here,” said the lady; and when their heads were 
turned to the light, Rob started to his feet. " ’Tis Lewinski,” 
he said, just above his breath. 

His companion quietly drew him back into his seat. 




278 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 



"What know you of Lewinski?” asked Count K-. "Do 

you know the lady also?” he whispered. 

"Yes,” Rob answered, not without alarm. "I saw the 

same woman at 
Valdai.” 

"You are sus¬ 
pect, then. Is it 
not so?” asked 
the young officer, 
eagerly. "Of 
course it must be 
so, or Demetrius 

and Julie K- 

would never trou¬ 
ble themselves 
about you. But 
come with me. 
Let us get to your 
companions; per¬ 
haps you can 
avoid these man- 
hunters yet.” 

Fortescue bit¬ 
terly regretted 
that he trusted to 
a chance, instead 
of watching at the 
pier, for the arriv¬ 
al of the "Vladi¬ 
mir,” but determined, as he expressed it, " to have it out here, 

and done with it,” and, accompanied by Count K-and his 

companions, sought the Commandant at once. 

" I have delayed delivering this packet,” said he, quietly, 


AT THE BALL. 
















TO SIBERIA. 279 

” because, having two letters of recommendation, I preferred 
to rely on that of General Aksakoff.” 

"You were wise, or, at least, fortunate,” said the officer, 
with a grim smile, " for this would have secured your arrest, 
or, at least, detention.” 

"Then Lewinski is a spy!” said Fortescue, scornfully. 
"Of what am I accused?” he continued, more calmly. 

" That is not the question,” said the Commandant, quietly. 
" I shall not arrest you if I can help it. After reading Aksa- 
kofFs letter I am willing to strain a point to help you; but I 
fear if you go down the river that Lewinski will follow, and if 
you remain here he may telegraph to St. Petersburg for explicit 
orders, which will leave me no discretion. What can I do, 
sir, in such a case? ” 

" Send us to Siberia,” said Rob, boldly. " There’s a con¬ 
vict boat going at daylight, and if we go on that boat no one 
will guess it, or will think we have been arrested.” 

"Just the thing! ” cried Fortescue. " You can do this, can 
you not?” 

The Commandant nodded, and rapidly wrote out an order, 
which he gave to Fortescue, who motioned to his companion 
to leave the room. In a few moments he followed with the 
young Russian, who accompanied them to their hotel, and 
from thence on board the " Peretz,” which, with her steam up 
and lying close to a large prison barge crowded with exiles 
of the baser sort, only awaited the first light of the coming 
morning. 

As for the young Count, he returned to the ball, and at last 
got an introduction to the fair Julie, who, during an interval of 
the dance, asked him where the English gentlemen had disap¬ 
peared to. 

" My fair partner,” replied he, "I am disgusted with Eng¬ 
lishmen. The dance they care little for; they would not be 


280 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


introduced to the ladies; and cards they utterly refused to 
touch. They have gone, I believe, to their hotel, and are by 
this time either eating or sleeping like English hogs as they 
are. To-morrow they will take the "Samolet” down to As- 
trachan.” 

At daylight the ball broke up; the "Peretz” was several 
versts up the river on her way to Perm; the "Samolet” had not 
yet arrived; and Lewinski had notified the police, who, with 
the officer of the guard, made a descent on the hotel. An 
unhappy Pole, who had the misfortune to occupy a room next 

to Fortescue, tried 
to escape, and was 
arrested and bound; 
the bedding and fur¬ 
niture was searched, 
and the proprietor 
half frightened to death before he could explain that his guests 
had gone up the river,-—on learning which, Lewinski, know¬ 
ing that a boat had passed bound up the Volga, hastened to 
communicate by telegraph with the police above, but never 
dreamed of calling attention to the w Peretz,” which, as a gov¬ 
ernment boat, would not be subjected to search at any point 
except by especial orders. 

They reached Perm on the fourth day after passing Kazan, 
and Fortescue, with many thanks and a more substantial token 
of gratitude to the officer of the military escort of the miser¬ 
able convicts, procured a berlin and set out for Ekaterenburg, 
which lay beyond the passes of the Ural Mountains. 

Another berlin, conveying the wives and children of some 
Russian officials, set out at the same time; and the iemschiks , 
or drivers, expecting liberal rewards from such distinguished 
travellers, vied with each other in pressing their hardy, long¬ 
haired Siberian horses to their greatest speed. Two hundred 



ARREST OF THE POLE. 




THE URAL MOUNTAINS. 


281 


miles were to be passed over to reach Ekaterenburg, and one 
hundred and fifty at least before reaching the mountains, which 
they began to ascend the third day after leaving Perm; and to 
Rob’s surprise and disappointment, the ascent was easy, and 
the greatest height of the mountain peaks insignificant, as 
compared with other ranges, for the Urals are nowhere over 



AT THE CREST OF THE URALS. 


five thousand feet above sea level. Many small villages were 
passed, principally occupied by miners; for the "belt,” as their 
name implies, is a golden zone set with many beautiful and 
precious stones; or, in other words, this range is rich in gold, 
platinum, copper, iron, porphyry, marble, emeralds, jaspers, 
and even diamonds. 

A perfect stream of vehicles, both coming and going, were 
passed and encountered however, and, as it was nearly night 
when they drew near the summit, the iemschiks determined to 
halt their horses and rest for half an hour, for after dark the 









282 


DRIFTING ROUND TIIE WORLD. 


road would be free, or nearly so, from the travel which had 
prevented rapid progress during the hours of daylight. 

Slowly the deepening shadows crept up the mountain; 
while the horses munched their barley, and the postillions 
their hard, sour, black bread, or smoked Circassian tobacco in 
their long-stemmed pipes. At last all was ready; the lamps 
were lighted, the doors closed, and, a verst farther on, the last 
ascent was surmounted, and the carriages plunged down the 
ridge on the Asiatic side. 

Over rough bridges crossing mountain torrents; around 
sudden turns belting rocky cliffs; through forests where the 
lurid fires of the charcoal-burners burst from the restraining 
mounds, tended by wild and savage figures worthy the pencil 
of Salvator Rosa; through silent villages whose picturesque and 
rudely-carved roofs showed strangely weird against the starlit 
sky, and stopping only at the relay-houses for fresher horses to 
replace their tired beasts, the travellers found themselves, just 
before daybreak, at the foot of the Urals, and, by the light of 
the waning moon and setting stars, saw afar off the spires 
of Ekaterenburg. 

That same day they passed on to Tioumen through an 
almost desert country, principally inhabited by Siberians, Kir- 
ghis, and other pastoral peoples, who possess large herds of 
sheep, horses, and even camels, the latter being of what is 
called the Calmuck breed, and smaller and hardier than its 
congener of Arabia, with long and wooly hair and a small 
head. Here, too, they saw several Tartars on their way to 
Russia, and a few Turcoman marauders, — strong, clumsy, 
cruel-looking fellows from the frontiers of Turkestan. From 
Tioumen they drove to Tobolsk, and there took a steamer 
down the Irtish and up the Obi to Tomsk. The boat was 
loaded with Russian iron, woollen, and cotton manufactures, 
and small stores for the Siberian, Chinese, and Alaskan trade, 


CENTRAL SIBERIA. 


283 


including powder, lead, guns, knives, Circassian tobacco in the 
leaf, pipes, hatchets, arrow and spear heads, traps, nets, lines, 
hooks, and cheap jewelry. 

The rivers were for the most part but sparsely inhabited, 
but great clouds of ducks and geese rose up from the banks 
and shallows; among them the Tsar-Ka , or Emperor Goose, 
with its golden-tipped crest of white feathers and ashes-of- 
roses wings and breast. 

At Tomsk, the most considerable town of Central Siberia, 
the travellers found a city too old to be well laid out, and 
occupied by a population too lazy, dirty, and apathetic to leave 
aught but masses of filth in the streets, just dry after the 
melting of the winter’s snow, whose purity had concealed a 
myriad of loathsome nuisances and a score of foul odors. 
Nevertheless, great wealth and luxury is to be met with here 
among the merchants and directors of the imperial mines, and 
on the steep and rugged hill, whose score of church-spires are 
reflected in the Tom, there are wider streets with plank side¬ 
walks, and houses whose architecture and inner luxury are 
worthy of palaces. 

Three days more of swift posting over wooded plains and 
desert steppes, carried them three hundred and sixty miles to 
Yeneseisk, on the Yenesei, where they took a steamer up the 
Angora to Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia. Situated on 
a high hill of almost solid rock, it has a population of at least 
thirty thousand souls, a host of fine churches, macadamised 
streets bordered by huge birches, and many fine government 
and private residences. Its population includes representatives 
of a hundred tribes and peoples, including many Chinese and 
the half-savage denizens of the Amoor. 

From Irkutsk a small steamer was taken up the Angora to 
Lake Baikal, whose scenery, enclosed as it is by the spurs of 
the Altai range, was grand in the extreme; and although 


284 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

already June, the operations of the seal-hunters, and the hshers 
of sturgeon, herring, and the oil-giving golomyka, were still at 
the height of interest to the Yakuts, Tungus, Calmucks, and 
Russians who inhabit the valleys and slopes of the Altai 
range. 

The former, indeed, our travellers had encountered all 
along the route eastward of the Yenesei, and number over two 
hundred thousand souls, scattered principally in tiny hamlets 
and single families living miles apart on the desolate steppes. 
Indeed, in Northern Siberia it is not unfrequently the case that 
the Yakut herdsman sees a neighbor only at intervals of two 
and three years. In winter they live in a kind of house called 
balagan , the floor of which is usually below the surface of the 
ground, and the hearth an open platform of stone, from which 
the smoke escapes through a hole in the log-roof, made solid 
and water-tight by a covering of turf. The windows are mere 
holes glazed with oiled paper or fish-bladders, or even slabs 
of ice. 

Their stables are made in the same way, but the choicest 
cows are often inmates of the family yourt, and cared for most 
tenderly. Their food is horse-flesh, beef, and dishes prepared 
with koumiss , or soured mare’s milk, which is their favorite 
beverage. A dish called salamat , compounded of rye flour, 
koumiss , fat, dry fish, berries, and the inner bark of the larch, 
is considered a great luxury. 

In summer they live in lodges of birch bark, and devote 
most of their time to cutting and stacking hay for the winter’s 
use. The men tan leather, which is wonderfully soft and per¬ 
fectly water-tight; and the long Yakut busak , or native knife, 
made from the ore of the Wilna, will endure any degree of 
cold without becoming brittle. The women make rugs, which 
are exported to Europe and America, and from these half 
savage dens go to furnish the most luxurious mansions. 


AMONG THE TARTARS. 


285 . 

In their native state they are dressed in horse-hide, tanned 
to wonderful softness, and adorned with beads, fringes, and 
embroidery. From horse-hair they make ropes and nets; and 
their arms are the bow and arrow and a spear like a scythe- 
blade fastened to a pole. 

* Though nominally Christians, they still love the old tra¬ 
ditions; and Fortescue was often amused at seeing the Yakut 
carriers seeking to propitiate Lieski , the ” spirit of the woods,” 
by affixing some hairs from the manes of his sturdy little horses 
to certain aged trees. 

Along the banks of the Angora and Lake Baikal the Tun - 
gusi abounded—a race of medium stature, true Tartar features, 
and of a light yellow complexion. Naturally jovial, witty, and 
intelligent, — brave, venturous, and fond of variety, — they are 
found in numbers at every fair and on every post-road in 
Siberia. Vain and boastful, they possess much savage finer*’ 
which they carefully lay aside for deerskin garments wuen 
engaged in labor or the chase. In the latter pursuit they veil 
their eyes from the glare of the snow with a horse-hair veil, 
and use the bow, sling, musket, and knife with wonderful dex¬ 
terity, frequently encountering and slaying the Siberian bear 
with a single blow of the latter weapon. 

Their wealth consists chiefly in reindeer, dogs, and horses; 
and they are called Reindeer, Dog, and Horse Tungusi, ac¬ 
cording to their possession of either animal in quantity; while 
those who fish and hunt are known as Forest and River Tun¬ 
gusi. The nomad Tungusi live in tents of skin and bark, and 
their half-civilized brethren in small yourts like those of the 
Yakutski. Flesh, fish, berries, and milk, form their diet; and 
it is said that the half-digested contents of a reindeer’s stomach, 
mixed with fat and berries, is the chief dish of their feasts, 
where the feasters wash down the delicacy with bumpers of 
hot " trick tea,” made more nourishing with barley-meal and 


286 


DRIFTING ROUND THE , WORLD. 


fat stirred into the beverage. Their wives are purchased with 
reindeer horses, dogs, or other valuables, or by long and faith¬ 
ful service, as Jacob served for Rachel; and the Shaman , oi 
magician, has more influence among them than the priest. At 
their funerals a reindeer is sacrificed, and the dead, dressed in 
their best, are hung in a great chest like a coffin betweqn two 
trees. If a hunter, the dead man’s weapons are buried beneath 
him. 

Crossing the lake, the party ascended the Upper Angora to 
Udinsk, where they found many people gathered, about to pro¬ 
ceed to the great annual fair, which takes place on the w neu¬ 
tral ground ” between the Siberian town of Kiachta and the 
Chinese-Tartar city of Maimachtin. The officers of the troops 
here stationed (principally Cossacks) were very cordial and 
hospitable, and the Commandant — a Major, about to visit the 
frontier himself—agreed to hasten his visit in order to accom¬ 
pany the travellers. 

As they ascended the river they saw on every side the 
dwellings of the nomad hordes we have described; and from 
time to time on the distant slopes could be discerned the coni¬ 
cal skin-covered dwellings of the Calmucks, or the flash of 
lance-heads and matchlocks where Manchu and Kirghiz has¬ 
tened in small parties toward the border city. Kiachta they 
found to be a small fortified town of four or five thousand 
souls; and scarce two miles away, the tented space of "the 
neutral ground”—a strip some two hundred yards in length — 
was crowded with a motley throng of sellers. 

Here, on one side, were to be seen representatives of every 
Russian and Siberian sept, with Jews, Germans, Frenchmen, 
and even Americans from the Northwest coast, each having 
something to exchange for the treasures of the Flowery King¬ 
dom; and, on the other hand, silks, teas, dishes, nankins, and a 
host of sweetmeats and pretty trifles, were offered in exchange 


A CURIOUS CUSTOM. 


287 


for things of less beauty and greater utility. But one pecu¬ 
liarity at once impressed itself on our tourists as a most 
remarkable custom. 

The Commandant, wishing to buy a handsomely lacquered 
dressing-case, seated himself near the owner, who, after a most 
ceremonious bow, offered his customer a small plate, from 
which the Russian took a morsel of cuttings of tobacco and 
green ginger, which he placed in his mouth and began to chew 
in utter silence, the Chinese merchant doing the same, — and 
this " pause of polite silence,” as it is called, lasted at least 
fifteen minutes, at the end of which time a spirited bargain of 
five minutes resulted in the purchase of the coveted article. 

"A curious custom, sir,” remarked the Russian, as they 
turned away, "but I’ve seen stranger ways of dealing than this. 
Why, I begged a Mingrelian an hour at least to sell me this 
pipe, and he refused to talk of selling it, although at heart the 
dog was terribly afraid that it would be left on his hands; but 
it was a point of honor with the merchants of his race, and he 
would have chosen ruin ere he would have dishonored a rite 
older than the mosque in which he worshipped.” 

"A singular custom, indeed,” said Fortescue, "and even 
more dilatory than that here observed.” 

" Oh, you should be at one of the shawl sales in Thibet or 
Cashmere. I’ve seen a bargain made and agreed to, and sup¬ 
posed that all was over, when suddenly the seller would say, 
' I wont give you the shawls.’ Then the buyer would answer, 
'You must deliver them; here is your money, deceitful mer¬ 
chant.’ Then the seller would declare that 'I will not be 
ruined; you shall not have the shawls.’ And so the dispute 
would go on until they actually came to blows. The first time 
I saw it I was going to interfere, for blood had been drawn, 
and the seller was much the smaller man; but all at once their 
friends interfered, the money was taken, the goods delivered, 

23 


288 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


and all was as pleasant and decorous as ever. It was their 
custom. Then there’s the Armenians. I bought this kind - 
shall (Circassian dagger) at Tiffis of an old fellow, who, after 
it was paid for, sat down and wept bitterly, declaring that I had 
ruined him. I was going to give him back the knife and get 
my money again, when his son came up and said, ' Care not 
for what thou seest; it is our custom. My father will soon be 
comforted.’ And so he probably was, for I found out that I 
had paid him at least five roubles more than it was worth.” 

"We have nothing like that in our country,” said Harley, 
mischievously. " Have you, Rob?” 

"No,” said the young American; "but we have men who 
advertise that they are ruining themselves, to get buyers to 
come to see their goods.” 

"Yes! so have we; and it is the buyer who weeps after the 
bargain is completed,” added Fortescue. 

"Yonder comes the mandarin who commands at Mai- 
machtin,” said the Colonel. " If you will, you may perhaps 
accompany us to the city, and see a Chinese, or rather, Tartar 
town.” 

In a few moments more they were duly introduced to the 
mandarin, who rode his white Tartar horse with a heavy dig¬ 
nity befitting the representative of the Great Emperor. At his 
belt he wore a sword, and an-elegant bow and quiver hung at 
his back, for on the Mongolian border even the royal princes 
still hunt the bear, and even the tiger, with the ancient weapon. 

The Russian officers and our tourists were formally invited 
to visit Maimachtin, and were met next day at the neutral 
ground by an officer, who escorted them into the town, jeal- 
ousty leading them in by a gate, where all opportunity of see¬ 
ing the thickness of the walls or their armament was shut off 
by huge screens. 

They paid their respects to the mandarin at his residence, 


AT MAIMACHTIN. 


289 


which was built much after the style of the mansions of Can¬ 
ton, and had a fine garden with pavilions, etc., attached. In 
this garden he _ -d 

received his 
guests, and then 
dismissed them 
to be shown over 
the grounds and 
the suburbs of the 
city. 

While p ass- 
ing through the 
streets a Chi¬ 
nese school was 
visited, a small 
apartment in 
which a middle- 
aged Chinaman 
with huge iron- 
rimmed specta¬ 
cles and an im¬ 
pressive-looking 
stick was dron¬ 
ing out, in a 
sing-song tone 
of voice, some 
Chinese maxims, 
which about a score of small Celestials were learning by rote, 
making an awful din in repeating their lesson. Several of the 
smaller children were evidently frightened of the w foreign 
devils,” and the party soon retired.* 

In the suburbs they saw many curious sights, and among 
other places visited a temple, a cemetery where mourners 



CHINESE MANDARIN. 












290 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 


were burning incense and offering paper money for the benefit 
of the dead, and in the garden attached to one cottage saw the 
owner worshipping before a tree, to which certain inscriptions 
were posted on the south side of the bole, and before which a 
score of incense-sticks were smouldering in honor of the spirit 
of the great tree. 

Returning to Kiachta, the party set out for Irkutsk, to join 



CHINESE SCHOOL. 


a party about to descend the Amoor River to Nickolaievsk, 
on the Sagahlien Straits. At that place several letters were 
received, one being from General Gourof at St. Petersburg, 
which contained the following information: — 

Demetrius Lewinski, whose services to the government 
have condoned many offerees of his youthful life, died sud¬ 
denly near Buzuluk, some forty versts from Samara, a month 

ago. He had offended Count K-and other officers by his 

zeal in the government service, but was nevertheless induced 




















DEATH OF LEW INSKI. 


29I 


to join a hunting excursion, all the more readily that he had 
information that Karpinoflf, who fled from him at Valdai, had 
been seen lurking in the mountains. Two large bears had been 
killed, when it was found that Lewinski had in the melee been 
fatally wounded, which, of course, ended the day’s sport. He 
was carried to Buzuluk, where a woman calling herself his 
wife took care of him until death closed his sufferings. 



CHINESE TREE-GOD. 


"Karpinoff was captured two days after by some Cossacks, 
and being taken to Buzuluk, died there in the hospital only a 
few days after Lewinski, whose wife proved to be KarpinofPs 
own daughter. She had been betrothed to Lewinski when he 
was a conspirator, and had followed him faithfully, although 
we must believe that she was called upon to weave the meshes 
of the law around her own father. 

"It is probable that Karpinoff killed her husband, but it 
will never be thoroughly known. Of this thing I am morally 










292 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD 


certain, that had he not been slain he was to have met K-- 

in a duel, for •which this hunt was hut a •pretext , as duelling 

is forbidden in the 
army under heavy 
penalties. Of 

course K- is 

under no shadow 
of suspicion in 
this unhappy af¬ 
fair.” 

"A singular 
picture of Russian 
society, morally 
and socially,” said 
Fortescue, mus¬ 
ingly. ” Old Gou- 
rof,. I would wa¬ 
ger, has not been 
so pleased for 
many a month as 
he has been by the 
decease of this 
traitorous spy; and 
yet this letter, if 
lost, would not 
compromise him 
in the least. The 

THE POLISH FUGITIVE. 

officers we have 

met have been very kind; yet in the line of duty we should no 
doubt find them very tyrants.” 

. A few days later our travellers left Irkutsk for Stretensk, on 
the Amoor, from whence they descended by steamer to Nicko- 
laievsk. The upper part of the river presented much grand 





THE AMOOR 


293 


nnd beautiful scenery; and at Sagahlien, another Manchu trad¬ 
ing town, some Chinese, or, rather, Tartar bowmen and match¬ 
lock men, presented a novel and striking appearance with their 
gaudy dress and antiquated weapons. 

But, on the whole, the voyage was uninteresting and weari¬ 
some, for it was the midsummer season, and the insect plagues 



TUNGUSI DOG-SLEDGE ON THE AMOOR IN WINTER. 


of the Amoor are proverbial even in Siberia, and only by means 
of a kind of helmet with a gauze netting of horse-hair could 
the swarms of mosquitoes be kept at bay. Forest fires were 
very frequent, and for nearly three days it was difficult to see 
much of the surrounding country, so heavily had the smoke 
gathered in the valleys. 

Nickolaievsk they found to be a town of some five thou¬ 
sand people, a kind of naval station for the Russian fleet in the 
North Pacific, and the destination of the worst class of Russian 
criminals. During their short stay no less than six women 







294 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


convicted of murdering their husbands arrived there; and bur¬ 
glars, robbers, and the worst political conspirators, are sent 
to this distant department, and were thereafter deported to 
Alaska. 

Here a vessel was lying ready to sail for the military settle¬ 
ment of St. Michael’s, in Norton’s Land, and as she was to 
meet another vessel from San Francisco at that point, Fortes- 
cue concluded to take advantage of this opportunity to see 
something of Alaskan life and scenery, and reach San Fran¬ 
cisco before winter set in. The bargain was hurriedly made, 
and the " Pioneer ” sailed twelve hours after, the party going 
on board just before dawn. All were wearied, and imme¬ 
diately went to their berths; and when, late in the day, they 
were awake, a north-east rainstorm had set in, and they were 
running before an increasing gale across the somewhat boister¬ 
ous waters of Behring Sea. 

On being called to supper, the younger members of the 
party were, for the first time, introduced to the Captain, a fine- 
looking, almost gigantic man, with a heavy black beard and a 
rather colorless but handsome face. Fortescue introduced 
the young men, and the sailor insisted on shaking hands with 
each. 

"Glad to know you, Mr. Harley! It’s seldom we carry 
gentlemen passengers on this route; and for the most part I’ve 
carried convicts too bad to stay here. Now they say that 
Alaska is going to be sold to the Yankees, and they are send¬ 
ing no more criminals there, though as much trade is done as 
ever. Mr. Randall, eh? Why, lad, you’re a namesake of 
mine; we’ll be better acquainted, I hope, by-and-by, when we 
get clear of the Kuriles;” and hastily swallowing his supper, 
the Captain went on deck, to stay there until he knew he was 
at least twenty miles east of the archipelago. 

The next day, though the weather was stormy and threat- 


CAPTAIN RANDALL. 


295 


ening, the master found some time to give to his companions, 
and as is usual at sea, soon became pretty well acquainted with 
his passengers. From the first he seemed to incline to the 
party, but day after day his interest grew until the mates grum¬ 
bled at his unusual absences from the deck and neglect of his 
old comrades. He never seemed to weary of the story of 
their travels, and would listen to Rob for hours as he told 
of the curious and wonderful things of Russia and Siberia. 

"Ay, ay, lad! ” he would say, with a queer softening of his 
rough voice, "you’ve seen a great deal, and in good company. 
If I had a son, I couldn’t ask for a better chance to see the 
world than you have.” 

At one time Rob told him of his early life at Stonehaven, 
of his mother’s death, and of his father, whom he had never 
known, and his hope that some day he should find him again 
and carry him back to the old folks, now grown feeble, but 
hoping to see their boy once more on earth. 

"You’ve never met a Captain Robert Randall, have you?” 
he asked, as he concluded. 

"Yes, lad, I did know such a man for some years, on the 
China coast, an’, indeed, I sailed one year in a steamer he com¬ 
manded; but I don’t know as you’d just like to hear all of his 
doings 'Since he has been in these waters, — that is, if so be he’s 
your father.” 

"Tell me all, Captain,” said poor Rob, with white lips. 
"Tell me all. I must know; and if he has been bad, he is my 
father, after all.” 

" Well, lad,” said the Captain, slowly and somewhat sadly, 
" he was always a strange man, ready for any odd adventure 
or desperate work. He fought pirates again and again about 
Loo Choo until the boldest of them learned to keep out of his 
way; he smuggled opium one season when discovery would 
have been certain death; he went into the camps of the Tae- 


296 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


ping rebs disguised as a Tartar, and on board the "’Stonewall 
Jackson ” as an English deserter to get information for the 
American Consul; an’ they do say that he’s been a pirate, an’ 
a dealer in Coolies, which is as bad, or wuss,— but I don’t 
think that that is so.” 

"Well,” said Rob, who had brightened up considerably 
during the recital, " I don’t think I should be ashamed of my 
father so very much, though I don’t like the idea of smuggling 
anything, much less opium; but as England went to war to 
make’ the Chinese buy it, it’s natural that a man should think 
it excusable to take the poison in secretly without bloodshed 
and murder.” 

"Ah, my boy,” said the Captain, sadly; "you mustn’t think 
that 'Yankee Randall,’ for 90 they called him, was skipper of 
some little craft that ran in in a dark night to land a few 
pounds or boxes, and then ran off again. No, lad! He had a 
trim steamer of near two hundred tons, that carried guns and 
a crew of desperate men, and he had to fight whoever attacked, 
be it mandarin or pirate. To be sure, there wasn’t much dif¬ 
ference; for if the little 'Viola’ had been taken, her cargo 
would have been divided, and all her crew killed to a man.” 

"The 'Viola,’ did you say?” asked Rob. "That was my 
mother’s name.” 

"Yes, lad; I think he told me once that she was named 
after his wife, and he spoke often of the New England coast 
and Cape Ann, an’ — ” 

"And Stonehaven and Wreck Cove?” asked Rob, eagerly. 
"Did he ever speak of them?” 

"Yes, yes,” said the man, gently. "I remember now one 
night in the China seas, when we walked the deck together 
in the moonlight, and he seemed to be thinking of going home. 
He thought the boy was dead, I reckon; for he had been so 


rob’s father. 


297 


many years without hearing from home that he’d made sure 
that the little thing had died, havin’ no mother to care for it.” 

The great tears stood in Rob’s eyes. ” Poor father!” he 
said, chokingly. "If I could only see him, and love him, and 
take him home again to the old house by the shore! ’Tis just 
the same, grandpa says, as when he left, and grandma has his 
room just the same as the last night he slept there, and I heard 
her once crying softly by herself, and found her kissing a 
miniature that I had copied, and lost in the ' Racer.’ ” 

" Well, lad,” said the master; "I must go now, for the gale 
freshens, and maybe I’ll have my hands full before morning, 
and have to lay to. I’ll look up your father’s address, and you 
shall have it before you go ashore. Good night, my boy.” 
And fastening the strap of his sou’-wester, the Captain went on 
deck. 

That night there was little sleep on board the " Pioneer,” 
and at daylight that stanch little vessel was laying to in a 
terrible tempest, and fast drifting toward the American coast, 
not more than two hundred miles to leeward. All day and all 
night the gale raged, and the next day they could see the 
higher peaks of Alaska not forty miles away. 

The Captain came down into the cabin. " Gentlemen,” 
said he, " we have but a short time to wait now for the end, 
either for good or ill. I hope to make the lee of some island; 
but there may be no possibility of that, and we can’t work off 
shore. Rob, my boy,” said he in a different tone; " it may be 
that I shan’t have another chance to tell you what you asked, 
and so I looked this out last night. Perhaps it will tell you 
where your father is.” 

As he spoke, he drew from his bosom a small locket 
attached to a gold chain. Rob opened it, and recognized the 
sweet, pale face which he had been taught was that of his lost 
mother; but it needed only a single glance, a solitary thought, 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


to tell him what dear claim the Captain of the ” Pioneer ” had 
to his sympathy and affection. A second later he was clasped 
into his father’s arms, and was sobbing on his broad breast. 

For a moment Randall held his son to his heart, and then 
his strong nature rose superior to all else but the needs of the 
hour. "Now, gentlemen, each must be ready to take his place 
in the boats, to work ship, or save himself; and as for me, my 
place is on deck, and in care of all that is entrusted to me 
here. You will be told when to come on deck. Re ready.” 

An hour more, and the final struggle was close at hand. 
To make matters worse, a blinding hail covered the decks and 



BIDARRA. 


hid the shore-line completely at time from view; and the party 
coming on deck, found the anchors and cables ready for the 
last desperate resort, — anchorage in an open roadstead, where 
the lead at every moment told of rapidly shoaling water. 

But suddenly the snow ceased, and the Captain sprang into 
the lee-rigging to scan the land nearest him. " Loose the 
foresail!” he shouted. w Run up the jib, and let her pay off! 
Handsomely, now! handsomely!” And in five minutes more 
the bark was flying toward the land, and an hour later lay at 
anchor under the lee of Egg Island. 

That night the storm died away, and the next morning a 
bidcirra , or skin-boat, came off and took the Captain and our 
travellers ashore to the Michaelovski Redoubt, and the hospi¬ 
tality of the redoubtable Sergei Stephanoff Russanoff. 

The fort proved to be a square of huts of spruce logs, 
with plank roofs, with the intervals defended by a palisade of 
pointed stakes. Two bastions — all of whose guns were very 
small and rusty — defended the ditch and flanked the breast- 





ST. MICHAEL'S TRADING-POST, NORTON SOUND. 299 


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































3 °° DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

work; and the buildings included the commander’s house, 
which includes the armory and counting-room, two houses for 
the married and unmarried workmen, a bath-house, and two 
stores. 

The next day the w Pioneer” worked into a small arm of 
the sea, just south-east of the fort, and all were busy in 
unlading the vessel, and preparing to freight her for her home¬ 
ward trip. 

StephanofF, the ufrovctliska , or commandant, proved to 
be a man of iron will and great energy, being feared and 
respected by the workmen, mostly convicts, and the scarcely 
more savage natives about him. The arrival of the " Pioneer” 
was an event in the dull life of the settlement; and with his 
bidavrhiks , or subalterns, of outlying posts, StephanofF passed 
the day in constant bustle, and the night in unremitting ca¬ 
rousal. At first, sleep was almost impossible; but the second 
night, Rob fell asleep despite the uproarious singing of that 
grand old song so dear to the Russian soldier: 

-THE SOLDIER’S FAMILY. 

“Soldiers, soldiers ! sons of the Tzar! 

Who are your fathers, say ? 

Our fathers are battles whose fame rings loud: 

They are our fathers, they ! 

Soldiers, soldiers ! sons of the Tzar ! 

Who are your mothers, say ? 

Our mothers as tents on the field stand white; 

They are our mothers, they ! 

Soldiers, soldiers ! sons of the Tzar ! 

Who are your sisters, say ? 

Our sisters are swords well sharpened to smite: 

They are our sisters, they ! 

Soldiers, soldiers ! sons of the Tzar! 

Who are your brides, I pray ? 

Our brides they are rifles loaded and bright y 

They are our brides ; ay, they ! ” \ 






































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































302 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


It was nearly midnight when the chorus was lost to the 
sleepy ears of the travellers; but at daylight they were 
awakened by the stentorian voices of the Russians as they 
staggered out of the door, singing, ''Soldiers, soldiers! sons of 
the Tzar! ” on the way to launch their bidarra to go off to the 
vessel. 

That day the travellers visited the Indian village of T’sab - 
surni , about half a mile from the fort, to inspect the peculiar 
underground dwellings of the Unaleet Indians. Entering a 

small shed, they 
crawled through an 
inclined gallery into 
an apartment about 
fifteen feet square, 
whose roof rested 
alaskan house. on the logs which 

lined the sides of a pit some four feet deep. A square-pointed 
roof, about eight feet high in the middle, allowed the smoke 
from the burning wood on the central hearth to escape, and a 
.grass mat or carpet, spread over a thick layer of straw and 
branches, covered the floors. A fire-drill was being repaired 
by an old man, the only occupant; and with some difficulty 
he was persuaded to show how fire could be produced by 
friction. He took up a mouthpiece of bone, which he held in 
his mouth, and, passing the cord of a bow-drill around a slen¬ 
der pencil of hard wood, placed one end in a cavity of the 
bone, and the other on a piece of soft dry wood, and revolved 
it rapidly but lightly. A small pile of dust gathered, grew 
warm, brown, hot and black, and finally burst into a flame by 
which some dry grass was easily lighted. 

Some little distance from the village the dead were buried, 
or rather deposited in coffins supported by posts, and rudely 




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































304 DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 

carved and painted. Weapons, furs, dishes, models of boats, 
and the like, were suspended to or laid upon the coffin. 

Only a few days were at the disposal of the voyagers; for 
the "Three Bells” of San Francisco was due, and would return 
at once. Rob tried to induce his father to return home with 
him, but in vain. 

"I risk too much,” he said; "for Fve left several thousand 
dollars’ worth of goods at Nico- 
laievsk, and in China I am a rich 
man. I’ll follow you this winter; 
and if you travel again, I’d like to 
go too.” 

He made Fortescue a present 
of an elegant Circassian kindshall , 
with ivory hilt and velvet sheath, 
both heavily mounted with sterling 

INDIAN GRAVE. 

silver; and to Harley he presented a 
large pearl, which he slily said "might do to put in a wedding- 
ring one of these days.” 

To Rob he gave, besides several hundreds of dollars in 
English gold, a fine collection of Indian, Esquimau, and Sibe¬ 
rian curosities, and promised again and again that he would 
not fail to come back to Stonehaven that same winter. 

At last the "Three Bells” arrived, unloaded, and was ready 
to sail, and the white canvas of the "Pioneer” had that morn¬ 
ing been lost to view on the western horizon. The party 
embarked and ran down the American coast, touching only at 
Sitka, or New Archangel, which then contained (in 1866) 
about one thousand souls, — a third of them Russian officers 
and servants. 

The Indian villages near by were very large, with massive 
walls of logs several feet thick, pierced by a circular hole 
instead of a door, and reached by a flight of steps,— a device 



CONCLUSION. 


305 


which has more than once saved the Indian from the anger of 
the Russians, whose cannon could scarcely pierce such de¬ 
fences, and whose men could certainly never take a house by 
assault. 

Ten days from Sitka brought them to San Francisco; and 
after a ride of eight days, Rob bade his friends farewell on 
board the Cunarder which bore them homeward toward Eng¬ 
land, and the loving hearts who awaited their coming. 

Conclusion. 

It was Christmas-eve at Wreck Cove, and Rob, grown to 
his full height, and much improved by his varied adventures 
and experiences, sat beside the table at which May Irving, 
now a lovely girl of sixteen, was packing her contributions to 
the Christmas-tree, to be denuded of its precious crop for the 
benefit of the children of the Sabbath School. 

" I’ve got something for every one but you,” said she, 
laughing; "but I’m sure I don’t know what you would care 
for, since you came back from your tour round the world.” 

" I know what Rob wants,” said the old lady, gently. " I 
have waited many years; but even a mother can hardly long 
for a child grown to manhood, as a child longs for its father.” 

Poor May’s lip quivered. She was thinking of that terrible 
night on Georges which had left her fatherless and broken her 
mother’s heart. 

"We must not repine or grow weary,” said grandpa, cheer¬ 
fully. " God’s good time will bring its blessing, and the faith¬ 
ful heart find happiness at last. My son has promised that he 
would be here this winter, and —” 

There was a jingle of bells, an unwonted stopping of the 
stage-sleigh at the gate, and Jerry Senter staggered in with a 
brace of big trunks, while the owner, embraced and kissed un¬ 
til, as he laughingly declared, "he couldn’t bear any more,” sat 



3°6 


DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD. 


down at last beside his rejoicing parents, drawing Rob close 
to his side. May only sat alone by her table in silence, and 
for the first time in her life felt as if she was a stranger in the 
kouse of her adoption. 

Captain Randall saw the lonely look gathering in her eyes. 
"Come, May,” he said; "you have been a good daughter to 
my parents, a dear sister to my boy. Come and welcome 
me, May; for I am glad to be at home at last after so many 
long and weary years of ' drifting round the world/ ” 





LUCY FORTESCUE. 

























































































































































































































































- 






















■ • 









V ir 























f 




' 












• - 




















\ 


















































• « 











ti!5HAS. Y 0F CONGRESS 








